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THE   EDUCATION   OF 
KARL  WITTE 

OR 

THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  CHILD 

EDITED,  WITH    AN    INTRODUCTION,    BY 

H.  ADDINGTON  BRUCE 

TRANSLATED   FROM   THE  GERMAN    BY 

LEO   WIENER 

PROFESSOR  OP  SLAVIC  LANGUAGES  IN  HARVARD  UNTVERSITT 


NEW    YORK 

THOMAS   Y.    CROWELL   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1914, 
By  THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  COMPANY. 


Published  March,  1914. 


SECOND  PRINTING. 


Colleg-e 
Library 

LB 
W7S' 


L. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

Editor's  Introduction      ....  .       v 

I.    For  Whom  this  Book  is  Written      .     .       1 

II.    Was  my  Son  Born  with  Extraordinary 

Aptitudes.? 8 

III.  Did  my  Educational  Work  Proceed  Suc- 

cessfully?       15 

IV.  Is  MY  Son's  Education  Finished.?  ...     21 

V.  Every  Ordinarily  Organized  Child  may 
Become  a  Superior  Man,  if  He  is 
Properly  Educated 25 

VI.    Did   I    Intend   to    Make    a   Precocious 

Scholar  out  of  my  Son?    ....     63 

VII.  How  Came  my  Son  to  be  a  Precocious 

Scholar? 69 

VIII.  Did  I    Pretend  to  have  the  Necessary 

Skill  for  Making  a  Scholar  of  my 
Son? 87 

IX.    Objections  to  the  Early  Education  of 

MY  Son 104 

X.  Did  my  Son  Profit  from  his  Early  Edu- 
cation?      .     .   113 

iii 


iv  Contents 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XI.  Should  Children  be  Left  to  Them- 
selves UP  TO  THEIR  Seventh  or  Eighth 
Year? 123 

XII.  What  we  did  to  Guard  Karl  against 
Flattery,  or,  at  Least,  to  Weaken 
ITS  Venom 135 

XIII.  Karl's  Toys  and  the  First  Steps  in  His 

Mental  Education 158 

XIV.  Must  Children  Play  Much, with  Other 

Children? 183 

XV.    Karl's  Diet 190 

XVI.  What  we  did  for  Karl's  Moral  Edu- 
cation     213 

XVII.  How  Karl  Learned  to  Read  and  Write  223 

XVIII.  On  the  Separation  of  Work  and  Play  235 

XIX.    Concerning  Rewards  239 

XX.  How  Karl  Learned  the  Languages    .  247 

XXI.  Karl's  Education  in  the  Sciences  .     .  280 

XXII.  The  Cultivation  of  Taste    ....  284 

XXIII.    Karl  Goes  to  College 287 


EDITOR'S    INTRODUCTION 

When,  less  than  six  months  ago,  I  suggested 
in  the  course  of  an  article  contributed  to  The 
Outlook,  the  great  desirability  of  an  English 
translation  of  that  remarkable  book,  "Karl 
Witte:  Oder  Erziehungs-  und  Bildungsge- 
schichte  Desselben.  Ein  Buch  fiir  Eltern  und 
Erziehende,"  I  had  no  idea  that  the  opportu- 
nity would  so  soon  be  afforded  of  assisting  to 
carry  out  this  suggestion  myself.  There  are 
few  tasks  I  have  undertaken  that  have  ap- 
pealed to  me  so  strongly,  for  the  reason  that 
Pastor  Witte's  account  of  the  early  home 
training  of  his  son  must  unquestionably  be  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  most  inspiring  and  help- 
ful contributions  ever  made  to  the  literature 
of  education.  I  say  this  with  full  apprecia- 
tion of  the  fact  that  nearly  a  hundred  years 
have  passed  since  it  was  written,  and  that  in 
the  meantime  it  has  dropped  so  completely 
out  of  sight  that  few  even  among  the  most 
erudite  exponents  of  the  modern  "science  of 
pedagogy"  have  any  acquaintance  with  it.    In 


vi  Editor's  Introduction 

fact,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  and  I  have  made 
diligent  inquiry,  the  copy  from  which  this 
first  translation  into  English  has  been  made — 
and  which  I  found  reposing  long  undisturbed 
in  the  Treasure  Room  of  Harvard  University 
Library — is  the  only  copy  in  the  United 
States. 

There  are  two  reasons  for  Witte's  book 
having  thus  fallen  into  temporary  oblivion. 
In  its  original  form  it  is  a  book  which,  to  em- 
ploy the  quaint  but  extremely  expressive  Ger- 
man phrase,  "does  not  allow  itself  to  be  read." 
Not  only  is  it  excessively  long,  running  to 
more  than  a  thousand  pages  of  print,  but  it  is 
burdened  with  a  mass  of  disquisitional  pas- 
sages which  too  often  are  of  little  importance, 
and  which,  in  addition  to  exhausting  the  read- 
er's patience,  have  the  effect  of  diminishing 
his  appreciation  of  the  value  of  the  educa- 
tional method  which  Witte  laboriously  and 
disconnectedly  details.  Consequently  it  has 
been  a  necessary  task,  in  connection  with  the 
present  translation,  to  eliminate  as  far  as  pos- 
sible the  superfluous  and  beclouding  material, 
while  at  the  same  time  endeavoring  to  omit 
nothing  really  essential  to  an  understanding 
of  the  principles  guiding  Witte  in  the  educa- 


Editor's  Introduction  vii 

tion  of  his  son.  But  even  had  it  not  been 
weighted  down  by  a  heavy  handicap  of  form 
and  style,  his  book  was  foredoomed  to  be  left 
for  many  years  unread  and  unheeded  because 
of  the  impossibility  of  reconciling  its  teach- 
ings with  the  "established"  educational  doc- 
trines of  the  age. 

Witters  fundamental  principle — that  the 
education  of  a  child  should  begin  with  the 
dawning  of  the  child's  intelligence — came 
into  direct  collision  with  the  accepted  peda- 
gogical policy  of  refraining  from  anything  in 
the  way  of  formal  education  until  the  child 
reached  "school  age."  By  beginning  too  soon 
to  teach  and  train  a  child,  the  prevalent  theory 
ran,  not  only  will  the  child  be  robbed  of  the 
joys  of  childhood  but  there  will  also  be  grave 
danger  of  seriously,  perhaps  irreparably,  in- 
juring his  health  by  overstraining  his  mind. 
It  was  in  vain  that  Witte  could  and  did  point 
to  the  success  of  his  daring  experiment  in  the 
upbringing  of  his  own  child.  The  outcome 
of  that  experiment,  in  the  opinion  of  most 
educational  authorities,  proved,  not  the  wis- 
dom of  the  course  followed,  but  the  excep- 
tional innate  ability  of  the  child  on  whom  the 
experiment  was  made. 


viii  Editor's  Introduction 

This  insistence  on  the  propriety  of  allow- 
ing the  mind  of  the  very  young  child  to  "lie 
fallow"  has  continued  to  be  the  dominant 
feature  in  pedagogical  thought  to  the  present 
day.  The  inevitable  result,  especially  in  coun- 
tries having  a  highly  developed  public  school 
system,  has  been  to  throw  virtually  the  whole 
burden  of  education  on  the  schools.  And  not 
until  recent  years  has  there  been  any  real  ap- 
preciation of  the  fact  that  the  schools  are  not 
able  to  carry  it.  To-day,  however,  in  addi- 
tion to  widespread  and  not  altogether  helpful 
denunciation  of  the  "breakdown  of  the  pub- 
lic school  system,"  educators  are  seriously  be- 
ginning to  ask  themselves  if  too  much  has  not 
been  expected  of  the  schools;  if  their  "failure 
to  develop  really  rational  men  and  women"^ 
is  not  in  great  part  due  to  the  unworkability 
of  the  material — the  boys  and  girls  of  the  na- 
tion— with  which  the  schools  have  to  deal; 
and  if  this  unworkability  in  its  turn  may  not 
chiefly  be  the  result  of  neglecting  to  begin 

*As  charged,  for  example,  in  Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot's  dec- 
laration :  "Our  common  schools  have  failed  signally  to  cul- 
tivate general  intelligence,  as  is  evinced  by  the  failure  to 
deal  adequately  with  the  liquor  problem,  by  the  prevalence 
of  gambling,  of  strikes  accompanied  by  violence,  and  by  the 
persistency  of  the  spoils  system." 


Editor's  Introduction  ix 

the  process  of  education  in  the  home  before 
the  boys  and  girls  are  old  enough  to  be  sent 
to  school. 

In  support  of  this  new  view  stress  is  laid 
on  certain  results  of  recent  scientific  research; 
results  going  to  show,  for  example,  that  early 
impressions  are  the  most  lasting,  that  early 
childhood  is  undoubtedly  the  time  when  hab- 
its good  or  bad  are  most  readily  formed,  and 
that  neglect  of  a  child's  mentality  in  early 
life  may  mean  lifelong  mental  inferiority.  In 
fact,  notwithstanding  the  orthodox  pedagogi- 
cal dread  of  infantile  overstrain,  scientific  stu- 
dents of  the  nature  and  characteristics  of  man 
are  beginning  boldly  to  assert  that  the  sooner 
a  child's  education  is  begun  the  better  it  will 
be  for  that  child.  As  one  able  investigator, 
Dr.  T.  A.  Williams,  of  Washington,  has  re- 
cently put  it: 

An  impression  prevails  that  growing  organs  should  not 
be  subjected  to  work.  This  is  a  gross  error;  for  organs 
which  do  not  work  cannot  grow  well.  Even  the  bones 
become  tough,  hard,  and  large  in  proportion  to  the 
stresses  to  which  they  are  subjected  by  frequent  and 
vigorous  pulls  where  the  muscles  are  attached.  .  .  . 
What  is  true  of  structure  is  true  of  functional  power. 
From  ballet  dancers  to  violin  virtuosi,  artists  must  be 
trained  from  early  youth.     It  may  be  objected  that  this 


Editor's  Introduction 


is  because  muscular  agility  is  required,  but  this  objection 
is  only  superficial;  for  dexterity  of  an  artist  is  made  pos- 
sible, not  in  virtue  of  superior  coordinations  of  move- 
ments themselves,  but  by  means  of  the  superior  speed  and 
accuracy  of  the  guiding  mental  processes  which  reside  in 
the  brain.  Since  intellectual  activity  is  also  a  result  of  or- 
derly functioning  of  mental  processes  seated  in  the  brain, 
it  should  be  manifest  that  these  too  should  reach  excel- 
lence best  when  they  are  trained  by  a  capable  hand  dur- 
ing the  formative  period  of  early  youth.  This  a  priori 
assumption  I  believe  to  be  borne  out  by  experience.* 

Writing  to  the  same  effect,  another  brilliant 
American  medical  psychologist,  Dr.  Boris 
Sidis,  unhesitatingly  affirms  that  in  the  case 
of  the  vast  majority  of  children  the  proper 
time  for  beginning  their  education  is  in  the 
second  or  third  year  of  life.    He  adds: 

It  is  at  that  time  that  the  child  begins  to  form  his 
interests.  It  is  at  that  critical  period  that  we  have  to 
seize  the  opportunity  to  guide  the  child's  formative  ener- 
gies in  the  right  channels.  To  delay  is  a  mistake  and  a 
wrong  to  the  child.  We  can  at  that  early  period  awaken 
a  love  of  knowledge  which  will  persist  through  life. 
The  child  will  as  eagerly  play  in  the  game  of  knowledge 
as  he  now  spends  the  most  of  his  energies  in  meaningless 
games  and  objectless  silly  sports. 

We  claim  we  are  afraid  to  force  the  child's  mind. 
We  claim  we  are  afraid  to  strain  his  brain  prematurely. 
This  is  an  error.  In  directing  the  course  of  the  use  of 
the  child's  energies  we  do  not  force  the  child.     If  we  do 

*In  The  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  XVIII,  p.  85. 


Editor* s  Introduction  xi 

not  direct  the  energies  in  the  right  course,  the  child  will 
waste  them  in  the  wrong  direction.  ...  In  my  prac- 
tice as  physician  in  nervous  and  mental  diseases,  I  can 
say  without  hesitation  that  I  have  not  met  a  single  case 
of  nervous  or  mental  trouble  caused  by  too  much  think- 
ing or  overstudy.  This  is  now  the  opinion  of  the  best 
psychopathologists.  What  produces  nervousness  is  worry, 
emotional  excitement,  and  lack  of  interest  in  the  work. 
But  that  is  precisely  what  we  do  with  our  children.  We 
do  not  take  care  to  develop  a  love  of  knowledge  in  their 
early  life  for  fear  of  brain  injury,  and  then  when  it  is 
late  to  acquire  the  interest  we  force  them  to  study,  and 
we  cram  them  and  feed  them  and  stuff  them  like  geese. 
What  you  often  get  is  fatty  degeneration  of  the  mental 
liver. 

If,  however,  you  do  not  neglect  the  child  between  the 
second  and  third  year,  and  see  to  it  that  the  brain 
should  not  be  starved,  should  have  its  proper  function, 
like  the  rest  of  the  bodily  organs,  by  developing  an  in- 
terest in  intellectual  activity  and  love  of  knowledge,  no 
forcing  of  the  child  to  study  is  afterward  requisite.  The 
child  will  go  on  by  himself, — he  will  derive  intense  en- 
joyment from  his  intellectual  activity,  as  he  does  from 
his  games  and  physical  exercise.  The  child  will  be 
stronger,  healthier,  sturdier  than  the  present  average 
child,  with  its  purely  animal  activities  and  total  neglect 
of  brain-function.  His  physical  and  mental  development 
will  go  apace.  He  will  not  be  a  barbarian  with  animal 
proclivities  and  a  strong  distaste  for  knowledge  and 
mental  enjoyment,  but  he  will  be  a  strong,  healthy, 
thinking  man.^ 

*  In  "Philistine  and  Genius,"  pp.  67-68,  84-86,  Moffat,  Yard 
&  Co.,  New  York,  1911.  The  italics  in  the  passages  quoted 
are  Dr.  Sidis's. 


xii  Edito/s  Introduction 

Now,  this  is  the  very  position  that  was  taken 
by  Karl  Witte  a  hundred  years  ago.  In  an 
age  when  no  enlightenment  was  possible  to 
him  from  anthropology,  psychology,  and  the 
allied  modern  sciences  that  have  for  their 
chief  object  the  study  of  human  characteris- 
tics; in  an  age  when  tradition  and  dogma 
still  enslaved  pedagogical  theory,  this  humble 
country  clergyman  in  a  little  German  village 
arrived  by  some  miraculous  power  of  intui- 
tion at  the  selfsame  conclusions  held  by  the 
most  advanced  educational  thinkers  of  the 
present  day.  Surely  it  is  not  surprising,  on 
the  one  hand,  that  his  book  made  no  impres- 
sion on  the  people  of  his  own  generation;  and 
on  the  other  hand  that,  after  having  lain  so 
long  unnoticed,  it  now  challenges  attention 
in  the  light  of  the  increasing  recognition  that 
the  education  of  the  schoolroom  must  be  sup- 
plemented and  preceded  by  the  education  of 
the  home.  My  own  belief  is  that  it  offers  to 
parents  precisely  the  information  and  guid- 
ance indispensable  to  the  proper  performance 
of  this  all-important  task. 

Certainly  the  educational  method  adopted 
by  Witte  is  so  simple  that  it  can  be  utilized  by 
anybody;  and  certainly  the  results  obtained 


Editor* s  Introduction  xiii 

in  the  case  of  his  son  are  of  a  character  that 
must  appeal  to  every  right-minded  parent. 
Let  me  briefly  review  the  facts,  as  set  forth 
partly  in  the  present  volume  and  partly  in  the 
son's  career  subsequent  to  the  writing  of  his 
father's  account  of  his  education. 

The  elder  Witte,  as  has  just  been  said,  was 
a  clergyman  in  a  German  village,  a  man  of 
simple  habits  but  of  uncommonly  original  and 
forceful  ways  of  thinking.  Looking  at  the 
world  about  him,  he  saw  it  peopled  largely 
with  men  and  women  who  wasted  their  ener- 
gies in  all  sorts  of  dissipation.  As  a  moralist 
he  was  saddened  and  depressed  by  the  drunk- 
enness, gambling,  sexual  irregularities,  that  he 
found  everywhere.  Still  more  he  marveled 
that  such  things  could  be,  among  rational  hu- 
man beings. 

"These  poor  people,"  he  reflected,  "do  not 
reason,  do  not  use  their  God-given  intellects. 
If  they  did  they  would  spend  their  lives  alto- 
gether differently,  and  would  devote  them- 
selves to  things  of  true  worth.  The  trouble 
must  be  that  they  have  not  been  educated 
aright.  They  have  not  been  taught  how  to 
think  and  what  to  think  about.  They  have 
been  started  wrong  in  life.     The  schools  and 


xiv  Editor's  Introduction 

universities  are  to  blame,  but  their  parents  are 
far  more  to  blame.  If  love  of  the  good,  the 
beautiful,  and  the  true  had  been  implanted 
properly  in  them  in  early  youth,  if  they  had 
been  trained  from  the  first  really  to  use 
their  minds,  they  would  not  now  be  living  so 
foolishly." 

Holding  such  views,  Witte  carefully 
mapped  out  a  program  which  he  proceed- 
ed to  follow  in  the  upbringing  of  his  son 
Karl,  who  was  born  in  July  of  the  year  1800. 
As  its  foundation  it  had  the  theory  that  since 
children  are  essentially  thinking  animals  they 
are  certain,  from  the  moment  they  first  use 
their  minds,  to  draw  inferences  and  arrive  at 
conclusions  regarding  everything  they  see, 
hear,  and  touch ;  but  if  left  to  themselves  will 
inevitably,  because  of  their  inability  unaided 
to  form  sound  critical  judgments,  acquire 
wrong  interests  and  thought  habits  which  all 
the  education  of  later  life  may  not  be  able 
wholly  to  overcome.  It  was  Witte's  great 
aim,  therefore,  to  direct  and  develop  his  son's 
reasoning  powers  in  the  plastic,  formative 
years  of  childhood — to  ''start  him  thinking 
right" 

He  began,   even  before   the  little   fellow 


Editor's  Introduction  xv 

could  speak,  by  naming  to  him  different  parts 
of  the  human  body,  the  objects  in  his  bed- 
room, etc.  As  the  boy  grew  older,  so  that 
he  could  toddle  up  and  down  stairs  and  walk 
with  his  father  through  their  garden  and  in 
the  streets  and  fields  of  his  native  village  of 
Lochau,  Witte  gradually  widened  the  horizon 
of  his  knowledge,  giving  him  ever  more  in- 
formation about  matters  of  practical  utility  or 
aesthetic  worth. 

He  encouraged  the  child  to  ask  questions, 
and  in  his  replies  went  as  fully  as  he  could 
into  the  whys  and  wherefores  of  whatever 
was  under  discussion.  Above  all  things  he 
avoided  giving  superficial  answers,  for  it  was 
his  chief  object  to  impress  upon  Karl  the  de- 
sirability of  thoroughness,  the  importance  of 
reasoning  closely  and  carefully,  of  appreciat- 
ing analogies,  dissimilarities,  relationships, 
and  also  of  being  able  to  reason  logically  from 
cause  to  effect.  Nor  in  their  daily  walks  and 
conversations  did  he  make  any  attempt  to 
"talk  down"  to  his  son,  as  so  many  parents  are 
wont  to  do.  "Baby  talk"  had  no  place  in 
his  program.  Since  language  is  the  tool  of 
thought,  he  argued,  every  child  should  be 
taught  as  soon  as  possible  to  express  itself  in 


xvi  Editor's  Introduction 

its  mother  tongue,  clearly,  fluently,  purely. 
Not  the  least  important  element  in  Karl's 
education,  in  his  father's  opinion,  was  the 
systematic  drilling  he  received  in  the  correct 
pronunciation  of  letters  and  words,  and  in  the 
correct  use  of  the  different  parts  of  speech. 
His  father  insisted,  too,  that  all  others  who 
talked  with  the  child — his  mother,  the  maid 
of  all  work,  family  visitors — should  be  care- 
ful how  they  spoke  in  his  presence. 

Under  this  system  of  intensive  child  culture 
Karl  soon  displayed  not  only  a  remarkable 
degree  of  intelligence  but  also  a  love  of 
knowledge  rarely  seen  in  boys  of  any  age.  Be- 
fore he  was  seven  all  who  knew  him  were 
dumfounded  at  the  proofs  he  gave  of  the 
great  extent  to  which  he  had  profited  from 
his  early  training.  Most  impressive  were  his 
logical  habits  of  mind,  the  fullness  and  accu- 
racy of  the  information  he  even  then  possessed 
on  a  number  of  subjects,  and  his  linguistic 
proficiency. 

His  study  of  foreign  languages  began  with 
French,  which  his  father  taught  him  in  a 
novel  way,  fully  described  in  the  chapter  on 
his  education  in  the  languages.  So  successful 
was  this  special  method  that  within  a  year 


Editor's  Introduction  xvii 

Karl  was  reading  French  with  ease.  Mean- 
while he  had  begun  the  study  of  Italian,  and 
from  Italian  passed  to  Latin.  English  came 
next,  then  the  study  of  Greek,  a  language  con- 
cerning which  the  boy's  curiosity  was  whetted 
by  tales  from  Homer  and  Xenophon  told  to 
him  by  his  father.  In  every  case  the  process 
was  chiefly  one  of  self-education,  the  father 
answering — ^when  he  could — the  questions  put 
to  him  by  Karl,  but  always  insisting  that  the 
proper  way  to  learn  anything  is  to  overcome 
its  difficulties  for  oneself.  In  all  five  lan- 
guages the  boy  made  such  progress  that  by 
the  time  he  was  nine,  according  to  his  father's 
statement,  he  had  read  Homer,  Plutarch, 
Virgil,  Cicero,  Ossian,  Fenelon,  Florian,  and 
Metastasio,  besides  Schiller  and  other  Ger- 
man writers. 

Naturally  his  fame  spread  far  and  wide, 
and  with  its  spreading  much  sharp  criticism 
of  his  father  was  heard.  He  was  accused  of 
fanatically  endeavoring  to  convert  the  child 
into  a  weird  thinking  machine,  and  of  endan- 
gering his  healtR  and  sanity.  Karl  himself 
was  pictured  as  a  pale,  anemic,  goggle-eyed 
"freak,"  who  was  vastly  to  be  pitied.  In  real- 
ity he  was  a  happy,  joyous  youngster,  strong 


xviii  Editor's  Introduction 

of  body  and  mind,  as  is  impressively  testified 
in  the  letter  from  the  philologist  Heyne  to 
the  philosopher  and  poet  Wieland,  printed  on 
a  later  page.  It  was  with  reason  that,  in  an- 
swering his  critics,  Witte  indignantly  denied 
Karl's  alleged  ill-health;  and  justly,  too,  he 
disclaimed  the  prodigy-making  ambitions  at- 
tributed to  himself.  All  that  he  wished  to  do, 
as  he  explicitly  states  in  his  book,  was  to  make 
sure  that  his  son  would  enter  adult  life  with 
well-trained  mental  as  well  as  physical 
powers;  if  he  thus  early  displayed  marked  in- 
tellectual ability,  this  was  in  itself  proof  of 
the  great  advantages  to  be  gained  by  begin- 
ning education  almost  at  the  outset  of  ex- 
istence. 

Nor  were  Karl's  studies  as  a  little  boy  con- 
fined to  the  languages  and  literature.  Aiming 
to  make  of  him  a  well-rounded  man,  his  fa- 
ther strove  earnestly  to  awaken  in  him  a  love 
of  art  and  science.  Neither  artist  nor  scien- 
tist himself,  he  none  the  less  believed  firmly 
that  if  he  could  only  interest  his  son  suffi- 
ciently in  artistic  and  scientific  subjects  he 
would  study  them  enthusiastically  of  his  own 
accord.  To  this  end  he  adopted  the  plan  of 
taking  Karl  with  him  whenever  he  journeyed 


Editor's  Introduction  xix 

to  Halle,  Leipsic,  or  any  other  German  city. 
There  they  would  visit  art  galleries,  natural 
history  museums,  zoological  and  botanical 
gardens,  and  all  manner  of  manufacturing 
establishments,  mines,  shops,  etc.  Thus, 
under  the  guise  of  entertainment,  Witte  was 
able  to  impart  to  his  son  much  elemen- 
tary instruction  in  zoology,  botany,  physics, 
chemistry,  etc.  Always  he  emphasized  the 
interrelationship  of  things,  the  importance  of 
grasping  first  principles  and  of  learning 
everything  thoroughly. 

And,  in  addition  to  these  visits  of  explora- 
tion, he  systematically  utilized  familiar,  com- 
monplace objects  for  the  purposes  of  scientific 
education.  He  threw  about  them  an  attrac- 
tive cloak  of  mystery,  which  piqued  the  boy's 
curiosity  and  made  him  eager  to  press  for- 
ward to  a  solution.  He  also  devised  games 
through  which  he  contrived  to  familiarize 
Karl  with  fundamental  facts  in  various  de- 
partments of  knowledge.  Always,  however, 
he  was  careful  to  keep  well  in  the  background 
the  educational  purposes  he  had  in  view.  To 
quote  his  own  words: 

"He  would  have  been  greatly  surprised  if 
told  that  he  had  been  studying  geography, 


XX  Editor's  Introduction 

physics,  and  so  forth.  I  had  carefully  avoid- 
ed the  use  of  such  terms,  partly  in  order  not 
to  frighten  him,  and  partly  in  order  not  to 
make  him  vain." 

By  the  age  of  nine,  in  fact,  Karl  had  learned 
so  much,  and  was  so  well  trained  in  the  use 
of  his  mental  powers,  that  his  father  deter- 
mined to  send  him  to  college.  Six  months 
later,  accordingly,  the  boy  matriculated  at 
Leipsic  University,  to  begin  a  scholastic  ca- 
reer of  marvelous  achievement.  It  is  not 
necessary  here  to  give  details  of  it,  as  a  full 
account  will  be  found  in  the  closing  chapter. 
Enough  to  say  that  in  1814,  before  he  had 
passed  his  fourteenth  birthday,  he  was  granted 
the  Ph.D.  distinction,  and  two  years  later,  at 
the  age  of  sixteen,  was  made  a  Doctor  of  Laws, 
being  also  appointed  to  the  teaching  staff  of 
the  University  of  Berlin! 

Instead,  however,  of  immediately  begin- 
ning professorial  duties,  Karl,  with  the  aid  of 
no  less  a  personage  than  the  King  of  Prussia, 
now  spent  a  few  years  in  foreign  travel,  and 
it  was  during  a  sojourn  in  Italy  that  an  event 
occurred  which  had  an  important  bearing  on 
his  after-life.  In  Florence,  where  he  resided 
for  some  time,  he  chanced  to  make  the  ac- 


Editor's  Introduction  xxi 

quaintance  of  a  talented  woman,  who,  speak- 
ing one  day  of  the  masters  of  Italian  litera- 
ture, said  to  him,  half  in  jest  and  half  in 
earnest: 

"There  is  one  Italian  writer,  the  greatest  of 
all,  whose  books  I  should  advise  you  to  let 
alone.  We  Italians  sometimes  try  to  persuade 
ourselves  that  we  understand  Dante,  but  we  do 
not.  If  a  foreigner  sets  about  it,  we  can 
scarcely  repress  a  smile." 

One  of  Karl's  first  acts  after  this  extraor- 
dinary speech  was  to  buy  an  elaborate  edition 
of  the  "Divine  Comedy."  Reading  it  thought- 
fully, he  next  read  what  the  commentators  had 
to  say  about  it,  and  was  at  once  impressed  with 
what  he  considered  the  narrowness,  thinness, 
and  downright  error  of  their  views.  Fasci- 
nated by  the  magic  of  the  great  word-painter's 
verse,  he  promised  himself  that  some  day  he 
would  institute  a  campaign  for  the  better  ap- 
preciation of  Dante;  and  this  promise  he  ful- 
filled five  years  later  by  the  publication,  in 
Germany,  of  one  of  the  most  important  lit- 
erary essays  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  was 
entitled  "On  Misunderstanding  Dante,"  and 
concerning  it  a  modern  authority  on  the  study 
of  Dante,  Mr.  Philip  H.  Wicksteed,  in  an  in- 


xxii  Editor's  Introduction 

troduction  to  a  translation  of  Witte's  "Essays 
on  Dante,"  has  this  to  say: 

If  the  history  of  the  revival  of  interest  in  Dante 
which  has  characterized  this  century  should  ever  be  writ- 
ten, Karl  Witte  would  be  the  chief  hero  of  the  tale.  He 
was  little  more  than  a  boy  when,  in  1823,  he  entered  the 
lists  against  existing  Dante  scholars,  all  and  sundry,  dem- 
onstrated that  there  was  not  one  of  them  that  knew  his 
task,  and  announced  his  readiness  to  teach  it  to  them. 
The  amazing  thing  is  that  he  fully  accomplished  his 
vaunt.  His  essay  exercised  a  growing  influence  in  Ger- 
many, and  then  in  Europe;  and  after  five-and-forty  years 
of  indefatigable  and  fruitful  toil,  he  was  able  to  look 
back  upon  his  youthful  attempt  as  containing  the  germ 
of  all  his  subsequent  work  on  Dante.  But  now,  instead 
of  the  audacious  young  heretic  and  revolutionist,  he  was 
the  acknowledged  master  of  the  most  prominent  Dante 
scholars  in  Germany,  Switzerland,  Italy,  England,  and 
America. 

In  fact,  as  I  stated  in  my  Outlook  article,* 
"The  Story  of  Karl  Witte,"  of  which  this 
summary  of  his  career  is  an  abridgment,  there 
came  from  Witte's  pen,  almost  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  a  steady  succession  of  essays,  com- 
mentaries, and  translations,  to  serve  as  a  con- 
tinual stimulus  to  an  ever-widening  circle  of 
Dante  scholars.  Yet  all  the  while  the  propa- 
gation of  his  views  on  Dante,  and  the  foster- 

*  The  Outlook.  Vol.  C,  pp.  211-218. 


Editor  s  Introduction  xxiii 

ing  of  a  love  for  Dante,  were  but  incidental 
to  Witte's  real  life-work.  That  was  the  teach- 
ing of  the  principles  of  law,  both  in  the  class- 
room and  by  the  pen.  It  was  in  1821,  shortly 
after  his  return  from  abroad,  that  he  was 
established  as  a  lecturer  on  jurisprudence  at 
the  University  of  Breslau,  being  appointed  to 
a  full  professorship  two  years  later — at  the 
age  of  twenty-three! — and  being  transferred 
to  Halle  in  1834.  There,  teaching  and  writing 
and  gaining  ever  greater  renown,  he  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Long  before  he  died,  honored  and  lamented, 
in  his  eighty-third  year,  every  one  of  the  wise- 
acres who  had  so  confidently  prophesied  a 
short  and  unhappy  existence  for  him,  had 
preceded  him  to  the  grave.  Still  further  to 
confound  their  dire  predictions,  he  retained 
to  the  last  his  great  mental  powers;  and  to  the 
last  he  fondly  cherished  the  memory  of  the 
father  who  had  so  carefully  planned  and  so 
faithfully  carried  out  his  early  education. 

Such  in  rough  outline  is  the  record  of  Karl 
Witte's  intellectual  training  and  achievement. 
Did  it  stand  by  itself  it  might  plausibly  be  ar- 
gued, as  the  contemporaries  of  the  elder  Witte 
argued,  that  in  the  last  analysis  the  essential 


xxiv  Editor's  Introduction 

thing  was  not  the  training  given  by  the  father 
but  the  possession  of  extraordinary  native  tal- 
ent by  the  son.  But  the  interesting  fact  re- 
mains to  be  noted  that  Witte's  experiment  does 
not  stand  alone.  Since  his  time — in  some  in- 
stances, I  do  not  doubt,  as  a  direct  result  of 
the  reading  of  his  book — it  has  been  repeated 
by  a  number  of  other  parents,  and  always  with 
a  similar  result. 

The  children  thus  trained  from  infancy 
have  not  broken  down  in  bodily  or  mental 
health ;  on  the  contrary  they  have  been  if  any- 
thing stronger  of  physique  than  the  average 
child,  while  mentally  they  have,  like  Karl 
Witte,  developed  and  retained  powers  incom- 
parably superior  to  those  of  the  average  child. 
When  this  uniformity  of  result  is  taken  into 
account;  when  it  is  pondered  in  the  light  of 
the  findings  of  modern  psychology  with  re- 
spect to  the  formative  influences  of  environ- 
ment, habit,  suggestion,  etc.;  when  regard  is 
had  to  the  demonstrated  inability  of  the 
schools  to  attain  the  ends  expected  of  them,  it 
manifestly  becomes  imperative  to  acknowl- 
edge both  the  advisability  and  the  wonderful 
developmental  possibilities  of  education  in  the 
home  and  by  the  parent. 


Editor's  Introduction  xxv 

Compare,  for  example,  the  results  obtained 
in  the  case  of  Karl  Witte  with  those  obtained 
by  a  certain  James  Thomson,  who  in  the  early 
part  of  last  century  was  a  mathematical  mas- 
ter in  a  Belfast  academy.  Thomson,  like 
Witte's  father,  and  possibly  in  consequence  of 
acquaintance  with  the  latter's  work,  firmly  be- 
lieved in  the  importance  of  beginning  a  child's 
education  in  the  first  years  of  life,  and  had  the 
courage  of  his  convictions  when  blessed  with 
children  of  his  own.  With  the  loyal  coopera- 
tion of  his  wife,  he  taught  them  to  spell  and 
read  almost  as  soon  as  they  could  utter  words ; 
he  taught  them  mathematics,  history,  geog- 
raphy, and  the  elements  of  natural  science. 
One  of  the  busiest  of  men — a  writer  of  mathe- 
matical text-books  as  well  as  a  classroom  in- 
structor— he  made  great  sacrifices  for  the  sake 
of  their  education.  He  would  even  get  up  at 
four  in  the  morning  to  work  on  his  text-books 
and  to  prepare  his  lectures,  so  that  he  might  be 
sure  of  having  freedom  to  instruct  his  little 
ones  during  the  day. 

His  two  older  sons,  James  and  William, 
were  the  special  objects  of  his  care,  particu- 
larly after  their  mother's  death,  which  oc- 
curred when  James  was  eight  and  William 


xxvi  Editor's  Introduction 

six.  Thereafter  he  literally  lived  with  these 
two  boys,  taking  them  to  sleep  in  the  same 
room  with  him,  making  them  his  companions 
in  long  walks,  diligently  drilling  them  in  the 
rudiments  of  an  all-round  education.  When 
he  was  eventually  called  from  Belfast  to  as- 
sume the  arduous  tasks  and  more  responsible 
position  of  professor  of  mathematics  at  Glas- 
gow University,  he  continued  the  home  edu- 
cation of  his  sons,  besides  securing  permission 
for  them,  at  the  ages  of  ten  and  eight,  to  at- 
tend his  university  lectures  and  the  lectures  of 
some  of  the  other  professors. 

In  full  agreement  with  his  expectations, 
both  boys  showed  an  amazing  mental  develop- 
ment, while  remaining  healthy,  vigorous,  and 
active,  full  of  fun  and  ever  ready  for  a  frolic. 
Like  ordinary  boys  they  delighted  in  playing 
with  toys — with  this  difference,  that  their  toys 
were  in  many  instances  scientific  instruments. 
Thus,  when  barely  nine  years  old,  William 
made  with  his  own  hands  little  electrical  ma- 
chines and  Leyden  jars,  wherewith  to  give 
harmless  and  laughter-provoking  shocks  to 
his  playmates. 

So  great,  indeed,  were  the  intellectual  at- 
tainments of  the  two  brothers  that  when  James 


Editor  s  Introduction  xxvii 

was  twelve  and  William  ten  they  were  ad- 
mitted as  regular  students  at  the  university. 
Nor,  children  though  they  were,  did  they  have 
any  difficulty  in  keeping  up  with  their  studies. 
On  the  contrary,  throughout  their  college  ca- 
reers, and  in  several  departments  of  knowl- 
edge, they  stood  at  the  very  top  of  their  classes. 
In  his  first  winter's  work,  before  he  was  eleven, 
William  took  two  prizes  in  the  "humanity" 
class.  The  next  year  he  began  the  study  of 
natural  history  and  Greek,  spent  his  Christ- 
mas vacation  translating  Lucian's  "Dialogues 
of  the  Gods,"  and  in  May  carried  off  the  first 
prize  for  Greek.  The  year  after  that,  as  mem- 
bers of  the  junior  mathematical  class,  he  and 
his  brother  closed  a  brilliant  session  as  first 
and  second  prizemen.  Again  they  ranked  first 
and  second  when  members  of  the  senior 
mathematical  class;  and,  not  content  with  this, 
William  won  an  additional  prize  for  profi- 
ciency in  logic.  The  following  year  he  won 
the  class  prize  in  astronomy,  and  a  university 
medal  for  an  essay,  "On  the  Figure  of  the 
Earth,"  the  manuscript  of  which  is  still  in 
existence.  He  was  then  not  sixteen,  and 
among  his  classmates  were  men  of  twenty-five. 
As  in   Karl  Witte's  time  there  were  not 


xxviii  Editor's  Introduction 

wanting  prophets  of  evil,  who,  watching  the 
achievements  of  the  brothers,  mournfully 
shook  their  heads.  "It  is  monstrous,  horrible, 
impossible,"  they  protested.  "These  boys  have 
been  forced  by  their  father  beyond  the  limits 
of  human  endurance.  No  brain  can  stand  it. 
They  will  die,  or  else  they  will  go  insane." 

What  actually  happened  ?  James  Thomson, 
the  older  brother,  lived  to  the  age  of  seventy, 
and  died  leaving  behind  him  the  reputation 
of  a  really  great  authority  on  engineering. 
William,  the  younger,  did  not  die  until  he 
was  eighty-three,  and  became  even  more  fa- 
mous. For,  as  Lord  Kelvin  of  Largs,  greatest 
of  nineteenth-century  physicists,  he  won  a 
place  in  the  annals  of  science  fairly  compara- 
ble with  that  held  by  Newton,  Faraday,  or 
any  other  of  the  intellectual  giants  who  have 
concededly  done  most  to  advance  mankind  in 
knowledge  of  nature's  laws. 

John  Stuart  Mill,  the  illustrious  political 
economist,  was  similarly  educated  by  a  father 
who  had  strong  convictions  as  to  the  impor- 
tance of  habituating  a  child  to  the  purposeful 
exercise  of  his  mind.    Mill  himself  says : 

I  have  no  remembrance  of  the  time  when  I  began  to 
learn  Greek.    I  have  been  told  that  it  was  when  I  was 


Editor's  Introduction  xxix 

three  years  old.  My  earliest  recollection  on  the  subject 
is  that  of  committing  to  memory  what  my  father  termed 
vocables,  being  lists  of  common  Greek  words,  with  their 
signification  in  English,  which  he  wrote  out  for  me  on 
cards.  Of  grammar  until  some  years  later  I  learned  no 
more  than  the  inflections  of  nouns  and  verbs,  but  after  a 
course  of  vocables  proceeded  at  once  to  translation ;  and  I 
faintly  remember  going  through  "iEsop's  Fables,"  the 
first  Greek  book  which  I  read.  The  "Anabasis,"  which 
I  remember  better,  was  the  second.  I  learned  no  Latin 
till  my  eighth  year.  At  that  time  I  had  read,  under  my 
father's  tuition,  a  number  of  Greek  prose  authors,  among 
whom  I  remember  the  whole  of  Herodotus  and  of 
Xenophon's  "Cyropzedia"  and  "Memorials  of  Socrates"; 
some  of  the  lives  of  the  philosophers  by  Diogenes 
Laertius ;  part  of  Lucian,  and  "Isocrates  ad  Demonicum" 
and  "Ad  Nicoclem."i 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  nine  out  of  every  ten 
readers  of  Mill's  account  of  the  educational 
process  to  which  his  father  subjected  him, 
have  been  moved  to  pity  for  the  child  and  con- 
demnation of  the  father.  But  Mill's  after- 
life, especially  when  viewed  in  conjunction 
with  Karl  Witte's,  Lord  Kelvin's,  and  James 
Thomson's,  assuredly  vindicates  his  father's 
policy  and  emphasizes  the  unwisdom  of  the 
policy  of  mental  neglect  still  in  favor  with 
most  parents.  The  same,  I  have  not  the 
slightest  doubt,  may  ultimately  be  said  of  the 

*In  John  Stuart  Mill's  "Autobiography,"  Vol.  I,  p.  5. 


XXX  Editor's  Introduction 

more  recent  experiments  of  our  own  time  and 
country,  in  which  several  American  fathers 
and  mothers  have,  like  the  elder  Mill  and  the 
elder  Thomson,  applied  in  the  education  of 
their  children  much  the  same  method  as  that 
devised  by  Witte,  and  with  results  in  the  way 
of  unusual  intellectual  attainment  closely  par- 
alleling the  results  Witte  obtained. 

One  of  these  latter-day  educational  innova- 
tors is  the  present  translator  of  Witte's  book, 
Professor  Leo  Wiener  of  Harvard  University. 
Another  is  the  psychologist,  Dr.  Boris  Sidis, 
from  whose  writings  I  have  already  quoted, 
and  whose  insistence  on  the  importance  of 
early  home  training  is  an  immediate  out- 
growth of  his  psychological  researches.  Dr. 
A.  A.  Berle,  formerly  pastor  of  Shawmut 
Congregational  Church  in  Boston,  now  Pro- 
fessor of  Applied  Christianity  in  Tufts  Col- 
lege, is  a  third;  while  a  fourth  is  Mrs.  J.  B. 
Stoner,  a  resident  of  Pittsburgh.  All  four 
have  acted  on  the  theory  that,  if  one  only  be- 
gins soon  enough,  it  is  just  as  easy  to  interest 
a  child  in  things  worth  while  as  in  activities 
which  dissipate  his  energies  and  tend  to  the 
formation  of  loose  and  harmful  habits  of 
thought  and  conduct;   and  that  study  will 


Editor's  Introduction  xxxi 

never  injure  a  child's  mind  as  long  as  the  child 
is  really  interested  in  what  he  is  studying. 
They  have  therefore  taken  pains  to  give  their 
children  an  environment  rich  in  cultural  sug- 
gestions, and  have  labored  by  precept  and  ex- 
ample to  inspire  in  them  a  love  for  intellectual 
endeavor.  In  every  case  the  children  have 
responded  to  their  efforts  in  an  astonishing 
degree. 

Professor  Wiener's  oldest  boy,  Norbert,  de- 
veloped such  intellectual  power  in  early  child- 
hood that  he  was  able  to  enter  Tufts  College 
at  ten,  was  graduated  at  fourteen,  and,  three 
months  ago,  at  an  age  when  most  boys  are  only 
beginning  their  college  careers,  was  granted 
the  Ph.D.  degree  by  Harvard  University. 
Dr.  Sidis's  son,  William,  was  admitted  to  the 
Brookline,  Massachusetts,  high  school  at 
eight,  and  three  years  ago,  being  even  then  a 
student  in  Harvard,  amazed  the  members  of 
that  university's  mathematical  club  by  lec- 
turing to  them  on  the  fourth  dimension.  Dr. 
Berle's  daughter,  Lina,  matriculated  into 
Radcliffe  College  at  fifteen,  while  her  younger 
brother,  Adolf,  passed  the  entrance  examina- 
tions for  Harvard  when  only  thirteen  and  a 
half;  both  brother  and  sister  have  since  com- 


xxxii  Editor's  Introduction 

pleted  their  college  courses  with  distinction, 
the  boy  in  his  sophomore  year  winning  a  prize 
for  historical  writing,  and  gaining  his  Bach- 
elor degree  in  three  years  instead  of  the  cus- 
tomary four.  Finally,  Mrs.  Stoner's  daugh- 
ter, Winifred  Sackville  Stoner,  at  six  was  a 
frequent  contributor  to  the  poetry  column  of 
a  newspaper  in  Evansville,  Indiana,  where  she 
was  then  living  with  her  parents;  at  seven 
published  a  volume  of  verse;  and  to-day,  at 
eleven,  besides  being  proficient  in  several  lan- 
guages, is  writing  a  series  of  stories  for  a  news- 
paper syndicate. 

When  it  is  added  that  the  younger  brothers 
and  sisters  of  Norbert  Wiener  and  of  Lina  and 
Adolf  Berle  have  also  been  given  the  benefit 
of  early  home  training  along  similar  lines, 
and  have  similarly  displayed  exceptional 
mental  ability,  the  difficulty  of  accounting 
for  this  result  on  the  hypothesis  of  extraor- 
dinary innate  talent  becomes  insuperable. 
As  Dr.  Berle,  in  discussing  the  education  of 
his  four  children,  has  well  said: 

If  this  result  had  been  secured  with  one  child,  the 
usual  plea  of  an  "unusual  child"  might  possibly  be  raised. 
But  it  is  unthinkable  that  there  should  be  four  "prodigies" 
in  one  family!     As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  such  talk  is 


Editor's  Introduction  xxxiii 

absurd.     The  difference  is  one  of  method,  parental  in- 
terest, and  care.* 

In  not  one  case,  moreover,  can  these 
American  parents  be  justly  accused  of  having 
"forced"  their  children,  or  of  having  by  their 
educational  methods  done  any  injury  to  their 
children's  health.  The  children  are  one  and 
all  healthy,  sturdy,  and  strong,  and  each  in 
his  or  her  own  way  gets  quite  as  much  "fun" 
out  of  life  as  the  ordinary  child.  I  can  say  this 
from  personal  knowledge,  for,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Mrs.  Stoner's  little  daughter,  all 
of  them  have  been  more  or  less  under  my  ob- 
servation for  a  number  of  years,  and  I  have 
followed  with  interest  the  course  of  their  de- 
velopment. Time  alone,  to  be  sure,  can  tell 
whether  they  will  live  to  a  good  old  age.  But 
if  they  should  die  young  or  become  insane, 
as  some  critics  have  dismally  predicted,  I  am 
satisfied  that  neither  misfortune  could  rightly 
be  ascribed  to  their  parents'  treatment  of 
them.  My  own  opinion  is  that  they  have 
benefited  physically  as  well  as  mentally  from 
the  way  they  have  been  brought  up,  and  that 

*In  "The  School  in  the  Home,"  pp.  14-15.  MoflFat,  Yard 
&  Co.,  New  York,  1912.  Dr.  Berle's  book  is  a  particularly 
helpful  one  to  read  in  connection  with  Witte's. 


xxxiv  Editor's  Introduction 

they  are  altogether  likely  to  do  as  Karl  Witte 
did — outlive  those  who  so  confidently  proph- 
esy disaster  for  them. 

But,  it  may  be  objected,  the  development 
of  intellectual  power  is,  after  all,  not  the  only 
end  of  education;  the  development  of  moral 
strength  is  even  more  important.  Undoubt- 
edly. And  in  this  respect,  readers  of  the 
present  volume  will  very  soon  discover,  the 
Wittean  program  for  the  upbringing  of 
children  is  fully  as  helpful  as  with  respect  to 
their  intellectual  growth.  For  primarily,  let 
me  repeat,  it  was  not  Witte's  object  to  make 
his  son  a  "learned"  man;  what  he  wished  to 
do  was  to  make  him  an  all-round  man,  strong 
morally  as  well  as  mentally  and  physically. 
If  he  believed  that  the  boy's  reasoning  powers 
could  not  be  properly  developed  unless  he 
were  trained  from  early  infancy  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  sound  reasoning,  he  was  quite  as 
firmly  convinced  that  the  process  of  moral 
development  should  likewise  begin  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment.  He  believed  this 
because  he  instinctively  appreciated  the  force 
of  a  law  on  which  scientific  investigators  are 
nowadays  laying  ever-increasing  stress — the 
so-called  law  of  psychological  determinism. 


Editor's  Introduction  xxxv 

Stated  briefly,  this  law,  with  which  all  par- 
ents ought  to  be  acquainted,  holds  that  every 
occurrence  in  the  moral  life  of  a  man  is  in- 
dissolubly  connected  with,  and  determined 
by,  previous  occurrences,  and  especially  by 
the  occurrences  and  influences  of  early  child- 
hood. Dr.  Paul  Dubois,  one  of  the  foremost 
exponents  of  the  philosophy  of  determinism 
says: 

If  you  have  the  happiness  to  be  a  well-living  man,  take 
care  not  to  attribute  the  credit  of  it  to  yourself.  Re- 
member the  favorable  conditions  in  which  you  have  lived, 
surrounded  by  relatives  who  loved  you  and  set  you  a 
good  example;  do  not  forget  the  close  friends  who  have 
taken  you  by  the  hand  and  led  you  away  from  the  quag- 
mires of  evil;  keep  a  grateful  remembrance  for  all  the 
teachers  who  have  influenced  you,  the  kind  and  intelli- 
gent schoolmaster,  the  devoted  pastor;  realize  all  these 
multiple  influences  which  have  made  of  you  what  you 
are.  Then  you  will  remember  that  such  and  such  a 
culprit  has  not  in  his  sad  life  met  with  these  favorable 
conditions,  that  he  had  a  drunken  father  or  a  foolish 
mother,  and  that  he  has  lived  without  affection,  exposed 
to  all  kinds  of  temptations.  You  will  then  take  pity 
upon  this  disinherited  man,  whose  mind  has  been  nour- 
ished upon  malformed  mental  images,  begetting  evil  sen- 
timents, such  as  immoderate  desire  or  social  hatred.* 

In  the  case  of  the  spoiled  child,  equally 
with  that  of  the  neglected  one,  the  determinist 

*  In  "Reason  and  Sentiment,"  pp.  69-71.  Funk  &  Wagnalls 
Co.,  New  York,  1910. 


xxxvi  Editor's  Introduction 

sees  the  implanting  of  seeds  certain  soon  or 
late  to  ripen  into  a  harvest  of  moral  weeds. 
And  his  cry,  consequently,  is  for  the  begin- 
ning of  moral  education  in  the  first  years  of 
childhood,  so  that  by  the  time  the  child 
reaches  school  age  he  will  have  acquired  a 
viewpoint  and  strength  of  character  sufficient 
to  enable  him  to  resist  the  allurements  of  com- 
panions of  perhaps  vicious,  or  at  all  events 
morally  weak,  tendencies. 

In  such  full  agreement  was  Witte  with  this 
modern  determinist  doctrine  of  the  supreme 
importance  of  the  early  environment  as  a  fac- 
tor in  moral  development,  that  he  even  laid 
down  rules  to  be  strictly  observed  by  all  in 
the  household  in  their  dealings  with  little 
Karl.  The  whole  family  life,  in  fact,  was 
regulated  with  a  view  to  "suggesting"  to  the 
child  ideas  which,  taking  root  in  the  subcon- 
scious region  of  his  mind,  would  tend  to  affect 
his  moral  outlook  and  exercise  a  lasting  in- 
fluence on  his  conduct.  Hasty  words,  dis- 
putes, discussion  of  unpleasant  topics,  all 
such  things  were  studiously  avoided.  From 
Witte's  statements  it  is  also  plain  that  in  their 
relations  with  one  another,  as  with  their 
serving-maid  and  all  who  visited  their  home, 


Editor's  Introduction  xxxvii 

Witte  and  his  wife  displayed  only  those  char- 
acteristics with  which  they  wished  to  imbue 
their  son.  They  were  unfailingly  genial,  cour- 
teous, considerate,  and  sympathetic.  Over  and 
above  all  this,  they  set  Karl  a  constant  exam- 
ple of  diligence,  of  that  earnest  activity  which 
is  itself  a  most  forceful  form  of  moral  dis- 
cipline. 

It  is  also  worth  noting  that  in  the  walks 
and  talks  which  were  so  conspicuous  a  feature 
of  Witte's  educational  program,  he  took 
good  care  to  cultivate  in  his  boy  the  precious 
gift  of  imagination,  on  which  the  moral  as 
well  as  the  mental  life  of  man  so  largely  de- 
pends.^ When,  for  instance,  father  and  son 
went  hand  in  hand  along  the  roads  and  across 
the  fields  of  Lochau,  it  was  not  alone  rudi- 
ments of  botany,  physics,  chemistry,  natural 
history,  and  the  like,  that  Witte  taught  Karl; 
he  deftly  led  him  to  appreciate  the  beauty 
and  mystery  inherent  in  the  workings  of  na- 

*ThJs  important  measure  in  the  education  of  the  child  is 
ably  discussed  in  Dr.  Berle's  book;  also  in  Mr.  Ernest  Hamlin 
Abbott's  stimulating  little  volume,  "On  the  Training  of  Par- 
ents." Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  1908.  In  this  connec- 
tion it  might  also  be  said  that  parents  will  find  much  helpful 
advice  on  the  subject  of  moral  education  in  President  William 
De  Witt  Hyde's  "The  Quest  of  the  Best."  Thomas  Y.  Crowell 
Co.,  New  York,  1913. 


xxxviii         Editor's  Introduction 

ture,  led  him  to  feel  that  there  was  always 
something  beyond  and  transcending  the  out- 
ward actualities.  When  he  told  him  stories 
of  the  ancient  world,  or  showed  him  pictures 
of  historic  episodes,  it  was  not  simply  with  a 
view  to  interesting  him  in  the  study  of  history. 
The  pathos,  the  grandeur,  the  tragedy,  the 
heroism,  or  whatever  it  might  be,  exemplified 
in  the  particular  story  or  picture,  was  also 
brought  out  clearly.  So,  likewise,  in  famil- 
iarizing him  with  the  quiet  life  of  Lochau 
itself,  in  introducing  him  to  its  mills,  its 
shops,  its  cottage  homes  and  their  hum- 
ble dwellers,  Witte  constantly  endeavored  to 
make  his  son  perceive,  beneath  the  sordid  and 
petty  and  sometimes  repellent  externals, 
phases  which,  by  appealing  to  his  kindled 
imagination,  would  arouse  sentiments  of  true 
sympathy. 

"Remember,  dear  Karl,"  he  would  say,  in 
effect,  "these  poor  people  have  not  had  the 
advantages  enjoyed  by  you.  If  they  do  not 
speak  correctly,  if  they  do  not  always  behave 
as  they  ought,  it  is  because  they  have  not  been 
taught  properly  in  their  youth.  You  must 
not  do  as  they  do,  but  neither  must  you  con- 
demn them.    On  the  contrary,  remember  that 


Editor's  Introduction  xxxix 

they  are  God's  children  like  yourself,  and  that 
in  spite  of  their  shortcomings  they  are  pre- 
cious to  Him." 

In  short,  by  these  and  other  measures  which 
the  reader  will  find  described  in  his  book, 
Witte  sought  to  establish  in  his  son  those 
moral  traits  which  the  world  unites  in  regard- 
ing as  most  desirable.  His  success  is  evinced 
by  the  nobility  of  that  son's  entire  life — a  life 
which,  at  its  close,  drew  from  one  who  knew 
Karl  Witte  well  this  impressive  tribute: 

"He  lived  in  Halle  for  nearly  fifty  years, 
a  loved  man  and  honored  teacher,  a  helpful 
and  valued  member  of  the  professorial  staff, 
a  true  patriot  who  had  boldly  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  Prussenverein  in  the  time  of  the 
Revolution,  a  loyal  Conservative,  a  devout 
Christian  and  elder  of  the  church,  a  scholar 
overwhelmed  with  honors  and  distinctions,  a 
tender  husband  and  father,  till  a  gentle  death 
closed  his  rich  and  singularly  happy  life  on 
March  6,  1883." 

So,  too,  the  parents  who  have  since  Witte's 
day  made  trial  of  the  virtues  of  early  home 
training,  have  found  their  children  growing 
in  moral  strength  exactly  in  proportion  as 
care  has  been   taken   to  surround   them,   as 


xl  Editor's  Introduction 

Witte  did  his  son  Karl,  with  enlightening  and 
ennobling  influences.  Always  the  outcome  is 
the  same — the  vindication  of  a  method  which 
cannot  too  soon  be  adopted  by  all  parents. 

Nor  does  this  mean,  as  might  be  supposed, 
that  in  order  to  make  sure  of  results,  parents 
will  have  to  give  the  greater  portion  of  their 
time  to  their  children's  education.  An  hour 
or  so  a  day  is  all  that  will  be  necessary  in  the 
way  of  formal  instruction.  What  parents  will 
have  to  do,  however,  is  so  to  regulate  their 
whole  lives  that  the  indirect,  the  unconscious 
instruction  which  their  children  will  absorb 
from  them  will  make  for  mental  and  moral 
betterment.  Always  they  will  have  to  bear 
firmly  in  mind  that,  as  wise  old  Witte  used 
to  say,  "Teaching  begins,  but  example  ac- 
complishes." 


H.  Addington  Bruce. 


Marlboro,  New  Hampshire, 
September,  1913. 


THE   EDUCATION   OF 
KARL  WITTE 

CHAPTER   I 

For  Whom  this  Book  is  Written 

People  may  think  that  I  am  writing  espe- 
cially for  teachers  and  educators  proper,  but 
that  is  not  the  case.  Since  the  latter  as  a  rule 
consider  themselves,  for  good  reasons  or  no 
reasons  at  all,  to  be  my  opponents,  I  cannot 
be  writing  for  them  in  particular.  Their  ob- 
jections to  me  are  that  I  have  not  done  things 
the  way  they  do  them, — which  is  bad  enough, 
— and  that  at  times  I  have  done  the  very  op- 
posite from  what  they  do, — which  is  much 
worse!  Then,  the  public  have  been  unkind 
enough  to  say:  "If  Witte  did  that  with  his  son, 
and  at  the  same  time  assures  us  that  equally 
good  results  may  be  obtained  in  the  case  of 
every  child  not  directly  neglected  by  Nature, 
why  do  not  our  schoolmasters  accomplish  the 
same?"  Nothing  could  be  more  unjust  than 
this  request,  and  I  have  made  vain  endeavors 

1 


2  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

to  stop  it.  Meanwhile  the  offensive  accusa- 
tions against  the  honest  teachers  make  them 
impatient  with  me,  who — truly  against  my 
will — am  the  cause  of  these  accusations. 

My  whole  work  is  intended  to  prove  to  the 
intelligent  person  that  the  schoolmaster,  no 
matter  how  well  endowed  with  knowledge 
and  the  ability  to  teach,  is,  in  spite  of  his  best 
wishes,  unable  to  accomplish  anything,  if 
others  have  previously  worked  against  him, 
or  still  continue  to  work  against  him. 

Teachers  and  educators,  for  the  above 
causes,  are  generally  hostile  toward  me,  at 
least  so  long  as  they  have  not  become  ac- 
quainted with  me  or  have  not  in  some  way, 
from  me  or  from  others,  learned  of  my  con- 
victions. 

For  these  I  write  only  in  so  far  as  they  are 
also  fathers  and  mothers  who  sincerely  love 
their  children,  or  the  children  entrusted  to 
them,  and  out  of  their  tender  love  for  them 
have  resolved  to  look  closer  at  the  educational 
experiment  of  a  man  who  more  than  once  has 
given  them  unpleasant  moments. 

If  they  do  that,  I  shall  be  writing  for  them, 
as  for  all  well-meaning  parents  who  wish  to 
get  the  best  results  for  their  children's  bodies, 


For  Whom  this  Book  is  Written        3 

minds,  and  souls.  Many  parents  have  atten- 
tively followed  my  methods  of  education, 
have  in  writing  expressed  their  sympathy  for 
me,  or  have  treated  me  and  mine  with  high 
favor.  The  proofs  of  their  noble  well-wish- 
ings  have  frequently  touched  me  to  tears.  I 
may,  nay^  I  must,  say  that  they  have  often 
assisted  me,  as  occasionally  will  appear  in  the 
course  of  my  writing.  My  warm  thanks  and 
the  thanks  of  my  family  will  follow  them  to 
their  graves. 

I  have  been  urgently  asked  by  a  great  num- 
ber of  them  to  write  in  a  simple  manner,  just 
as  at  their  request  I  have  been  telling  them 
about  it,  an  easy,  simple  story  for  the  world 
at  large,  as  well  as  for  them.  As  they  had 
cleared  away  all  the  reasonable  objections 
which  I  could  bring  forward,  I  was  obliged 
to  give  them  my  word  of  honor  that  some 
day  I  would  do  so. 

One  of  my  best-founded  objections  was  this, 
that  some  malicious  persons  would  say,  "Is 
there  any  real  need  of  such  a  book?"  To  these 
my  friends  answered,  "Even  sol  If  others  do 
not  want  it,  we  demand  it  of  you, — write  it 
just  for  us  I" 

And  so  I  keep  my  word.    I  know  full  well 


4  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

that  others  will  not  succeed  exactly  as  I  have, 
and  I  believe  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  all 
children  to  be  educated  just  like  my  son.  But 
I  am  convinced  that  much  of  what  I  have 
done  may  be  repeated,  and  that  an  intelligent 
application  of  my  method  will  be  of  no  small 
use. 

Pestalozzi  became  interested  in  me  at  a 
very  early  time,  and  with  his  clear  vision  and 
warm,  unprejudiced  mind  naturally  foresaw 
the  plant,  and  even  the  fruit,  while  it  still  was 
in  its  tender  bud,  and  so,  while  but  very  few 
paid  any  attention  to  what  I  was  doing,  ex- 
pressed himself  about  it  with  great  sympathy 
and  even  emphasis.    Here  are  his  words: 

Dear  Friend: 

Let  me  tell  you  once  more,  while  you  are  still  in  our 
neighborhood,  how  much  I  am  interested  in  the  method 
of  education  which  you  are  applying  to  your  child,  and 
how  much  I  find  our  pedagogical  ideas  essentially  the 
same.  Let  me  say  more  than  that:  I  have  more  than 
once  been  afraid  that  the  rubric  of  my  form,  number 
and  word,  like  the  external  form  of  my  elementary  books, 
at  first  sight  seems  to  lead  far  away  from  the  simple 
course  of  artless  Nature  and  its  best  adherents,  from 
the  plain  forms  of  common  sense.  However,  this  is  cer- 
tainly only  an  appearance,  for  in  the  execution  our  activ- 
ity universally  and  most  surely  resembles  every  educa- 
tional method  in  which  the  experiences  of  a  father  capa- 


For  Whom  this  Book  is  Written         5 

ble  of  strict  observation  and  the  heart  of  a  truly  loving 
mother  find  their  pure  expression.  What  of  it,  if  this 
does  not  appear  in  the  dead  tables  and  heaping  numer- 
ical series?  It  cannot  appear  there!  But  if  Kruesi, 
guided  by  these  forms,  becomes  all  child  to  the  child's 
mind,  and  the  child  finds  himself  in  every  word  of 
Kruesi  and,  for  the  sake  of  his  educational  method,  must 
find  himself  there,  even  as  he  must  find  himself  in  the 
simplest  word  of  his  mother,  whose  sense  has  become 
clear  to  him  through  a  thousandfold  experience, — then 
our  real  activity  is  indeed  something  quite  different  from 
what  may  seem  from  deceptive  appearances.  It  is  this, 
my  friend,  that  you  have  seen  better  than  any  one  else, 
even  because  you  have  been  working  essentially  in  the 
same  spirit.  You  did  not  know  it,  but  at  the  base  of 
your  activity  lies  the  same  matured  natural  feeling  out 
of  which,  after  endless  seeking,  my  pedagogical  forms 
have  evolved. 

My  friend!  Your  work  is  very  important.  At  this 
time  we  need  more  than  anything  else  the  proving  of  the 
work  of  education  by  matured  experiences,  and  such  ex- 
periences are  calculated  to  rectify  any  views  that  are 
held  in  regard  to  my  method.  Under  these  circum- 
stances you,  my  friend,  must  feel  how  important  it  is 
for  me  that  you  should  continue  the  circle  of  your  edu- 
cational experiences  and,  if  possible,  should  expand  it. 
You  have  been  invited  to  take  up  this  career,  inde- 
pendently from  my  wishes.  Permit  me,  therefore,  to  add 
my  wishes  to  those  of  your  nearest  friends,  and  urgently 
to  ask  you  not  to  reject  any  opportunity  that  may  offer 
itself  to  you.  Much  may  be  done  by  men  like  you,  who 
with  their  astuteness  grasp  everything  that  presents  itself 
to  their  minds,  and  who  are  able  consistently  to  act  in 
conformity  with  what  they  thus  have  abstracted,  as  agree- 


6  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

ing  both  with  the  essence  of  human  nature  and  the  cir- 
cumstances of  human  situations.  I  consciously  count  you 
among  men  of  this  sort,  and  at  all  events  rejoice  in  ad- 
vance at  the  chance  of  hearing  from  you  about  the  prog- 
ress of  your  experiences  with  the  sincerity  and  definite- 
ness  that  characterized  you  during  the  pleasant  hours 
which  I  passed  with  you  in  discussing  this  subject. 

May  your  journey  across  our  mountains  be  happy,  and 
may  you  be  assured  of  the  continuance  of  my  sincere 
and  lasting  attachment. 

Your  loving  friend, 

Pestalozzi. 
August,  1804. 

'  He  has  remained  in  this  opinion  for  four- 
teen years,  and  has  even  lately  urged  me  in 
private  to  make  the  story  of  my  son's  educa- 
tion as  detailed  and  universal  as  possible.  In 
this  he  was  joined  by  his  worthy  friends  and 
by  the  well-known  French  savant,  Julien  of 
Paris.  They  thoroughly  met  all  my  objec- 
tions, which  chiefly  arose  from  timidity,  and 
Pestalozzi  wrote  to  me  on  the  very  day  of  my 
departure  from  Yverdon  as  follows : 

My  dear  Mr.  Witte: 

You,  no  doubt,  remember  the  pedagogical  conversation 
which  we  had  fourteen  years  ago  at  Buchsee.  You  then 
gave  us  hope  that,  in  accordance  with  your  peculiar  prin- 
ciples, you  would  carry  your  son's  education  much  far- 
ther than  is  usual.     Now  the  excellent  progress  made 


For  Whom  this  Book  is  Written        7 

by  him  has  far  surpassed  what  you  then  dared  to  hope 
and  utter. 

The  question  arises,  in  how  much  has  this  progress 
been  produced  by  your  method  of  education,  or  been 
induced  by  it?  The  question  arises,  whether  his  progress 
is  the  direct  result  of  his  superior  talent,  and  to  what 
extent  it  is  the  result  of  pedagogical  principles  and  means 
which,  applied  in  the  case  of  other  children,  would  pro- 
duce at  least  approximately  similar  results. 

My  dear  Mr.  Witte,  you  ought  to  put  the  friends  of 
education  in  a  position  to  judge  with  some  degree  of 
certainty,  by  giving  them  a  detailed  account,  which  would 
definitely  enter  into  all  the  particulars,  of  how  you  have 
led  your  son  from  one  step  to  another.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  of  your  son's  superior  powers.  But  in  how  far 
your  pedagogical  skill  seized  these  powers  with  psycho- 
logical certainty  and  thus  caused  their  rapid  evolution, 
that  can  be  made  clear  only  by  a  very  circumstantial 
story  of  what  is  peculiar  and  distinguishing  in  your 
method.  It  is  important  that  this  be  done,  and  it  is 
certainly  the  pleasantest  business  to  which  you  may  de- 
vote yourself. 

Goodby,  and  may  you  be  assured  of  the  extreme 
consideration  with  which  I  have  the  honor  to  call 
myself 

Your  most  humble  servant  and  friend, 

Pestalozzi. 
YvERDON,  September  4,  1817. 


CHAPTER   II 

Was  my  Son  Born  with  Extraordinary 
Aptitudes? 

I  HAVE  been  told  so  an  endless  number  of 
times,  and  should  let  it  rest  at  that,  for  it  is 
exceedingly  pleasant  to  be  able  to  say  that  one 
has  been  particularly  favored  by  the  Deity, 
or  that  one  possesses  a  gift  that  enables  him  to 
do  what  nobody  else  can  do.  But  to  tell  the 
truth  this  is  not  the  case. 

There  are  more  than  a  thousand  persons  to 
whom  I  have  denied  it,  and  I  must  say  that 
most  of  my  friends  and  acquaintances  were 
of  this  opinion.  Only  one  man.  Pastor  Glau- 
bitz,  who  had  known  me  intimately  in  my 
childhood  and  who  from  1788  to  his  death — 
that  is,  for  a  period  of  more  than  twenty  years 
— had  been  a  close  friend  of  mine,  used  to 
say: 

"I  am  convinced  that  Karl  has  no  extraor- 
dinary aptitudes,  and  I  am  not  one  of  those 
who  marvel  at  his  progress  as  at  a  miracle. 
On  the  contrary.     I  tell  myself,  you,  and  all^ 

8 


Extraordinary  Aptitudes 


who  wish  to  hear  it,  that  his  aptitudes  are 
only  mediocre,  but  that  his  progress  could 
not  help  being  what  it  is,  and  the  results  of 
your  education  will  in  time  appear  even  more 
brilliant.  I  know  your  educational  plans  and 
your  way  of  doing  things.  They  must  suc- 
ceed, unless  God  wants  to  hinder  them." 

Shortly  before  the  birth  of  my  son  there 
were  in  the  learned  schools  of  Magdeburg 
(Kloster  Liebenfrauen,  Kloster  Bergen  and 
the  Domschule)  a  number  of  young  instruct- 
ors of  great  ability.  Other  young  men  had 
lately  taken  positions  as  preachers  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  stood  in  friendly  relations 
with  these  institutions.  They  all  formed  a  fine 
circle  which  zealously  occupied  itself  with 
man's  most  exalted  business,  that  of  his  edu- 
cation. My  friend  Glaubitz  had  joined  it, 
and  through  him  I  had  been  introduced  to  its 
meetings  every  time  I  could  be  there. 

The  conversation  once  turned  upon  this, 
that  teachers  and  educators  with  their  best 
wills  at  times  could  not  accomplish  anything, 
whereas,  in  my  opinion,  too  much  stress  was 
put  on  man's  natural  aptitudes.  In  accord- 
ance with  my  observations,  I  was  obliged  to 
contradict  them.    I  spoke  as  follows : 


lO  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

"The  natural  aptitudes  have  less  to  do  with 
it  than  the  child's  education  in  his  first  five  or 
six  years.  Of  course,  there  is  a  difference  in 
regard  to  the  aptitudes,  but,  as  a  rule,  that  is, 
v^ith  such  as  most  men  are  born  with,  infi- 
nitely more  depends  upon  education  than  is 
usually  believed." 

To  have  a  great  authority  on  my  side,  I 
quoted,  when  pushed  to  it,  the  statement  of 
Helvetius,  "Chaque  homme  communement 
bien  organise  peut  devenir  grand  homme, 
suppose  qu'il  soit  eleve  comme  il  faut." 
Everybody  was  against  me.  When  Mr. 
Schrader  went  home  with  Glaubitz  and  me, 
we  still  discussed  the  matter,  and  I  repeated 
what  I  had  said  more  than  once  in  the  meet- 
ing, where  I  was  outvoted: 

"Now  I  naturally  must  keep  quiet,  for  there 
are  thirteen  or  fourteen  of  you  against  me. 
But  I  hope  to  prove  to  you  in  fact  that  I  am 
right.  If  God  grants  me  a  son,  and  if  he,  in 
your  own  opinion,  is  not  to  be  called  stupid, — 
which  Heaven  forfend, — I  have  long  ago  de- 
cided to  educate  him  to  be  a  superior  man, 
without  knowing  in  advance  what  his  apti- 
tudes may  be." 

They  had  taken  me  at  my  word  in  the  meet- 


Extraordinary  Aptitudes  ii 

ing,  and  Schrader  did  the  same  now.  Glau- 
bitz  had  previously  only  indicated  that  he 
was  not  averse  from  my  views.  Now  he  at- 
tempted to  convince  Schrader  that  I  would 
certainly  keep  my  promise.  But  the  latter, 
like  all  his  friends,  asserted  that  such  a  thing 
was  impossible. 

Shortly  afterward  Schrader  learned  from 
Glaubitz  that  a  son  had  been  born  to  my  wife. 
He  informed  his  friends  of  the  fact,  and  they 
all  watched  me  and  my  boy.  Every  time  I 
came  to  their  part  of  the  country  or  Glaubitz 
came  to  see  me,  I  was  asked  of  the  state  of 
affairs,  and  heads  wagged  suspiciously  when- 
ever he  or  I  gave  hopes  of  fulfilling  my  old 
promise. 

When  Karl  was  four  or  five  years  old,  I 
took  him  to  Klein-Ottersleben.  Mr.  Schra- 
der saw  him  and  became  very  fond  of  him. 
Although  he  felt  that  the  boy  had  no  extraor- 
dinary aptitudes,  he  was  sure  that  I  should 
succeed  in  making  much  of  him.  Thus  it 
went  on  until  the  year  1810.  With  every  suc- 
ceeding year  Schrader  convinced  himself 
more  and  more  that  I  was  solving  my  prob- 
lem, and  in  the  latter  year  he  so  expressed 
himself  in  writing  to  me. 


12         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

The  letter  is  the  more  striking  and  remark- 
able since  his  personal  observation  and  the  in- 
formation received  from  his  and  my  intimate 
friends  compelled  him  to  admit  that  what  I 
had  promised  and  he  had  doubted  had  ac- 
tually taken  place,  although  he  none  the  less 
could  not  make  up  his  mind  entirely  to  give 
up  his  prejudices  and  that  of  his  friends.  He 
remained  to  some  extent  my  opponent.  It, 
therefore,  does  his  intellect  and  heart  honor 
when  he  enthusiastically  admits  what  has 
taken  place,  although  he  previously  consid- 
ered such  a  thing  to  be  impossible.  Here  are 
his  own  words. 

Langenweddingen,  June  3,  1810. 
Honored  Friend: 

You  have  kept  your  word!  Your  Karl  has  become 
what  you  promised  before  his  birth  he  would  become, 
nay,  he  has  done  even  better.  When,  ten  years  ago,  you 
declared  to  me  ecstatically  in  the  presence  of  our  de- 
ceased friend  Glaubitz  that  you  were  hoping  soon  to  be 
a  father  and  that  you  fervently  wished  to  be  the  father 
of  a  healthy  son,  you  added  the  unforgettable  words, 
"If  my  son  will  be  healthily  organized,  I  am  determined 
to  educate  him  to  be  a  superior  man." 

I  then  contradicted  you,  saying  that  the  success  of 
your  favorite  plan  did  not  depend  alone  on  the  health 
of  the  boy  you  were  expecting,  but  more  especially  on 
his  natural   aptitudes.     To   this  you   replied:   "Chaque 


Extraordinary  Aptitudes  13 

homme  communement  bien  organise  peut  devenir  grand 
homme,  suppose  qu'il  soit  eleve  comme  il  faut."  I  con- 
tinued to  express  my  doubts,  but  Glaubitz  assured  me 
that  you  had  already  transformed  a  boy  in  Switzerland 
in  a  short  time  into  a  more  than  common  man,  although 
he  had  been  given  up  by  his  former  educators  as  almost 
stupid.  I  then  promised  you  that  I  would  delay  my 
judgment  until  your  boy  should  some  day  appear  him- 
self and  speak  for  or  against  your  assertion.  Here  he 
is,  your  boy.  I  see  him  in  manly  maturity,  with  child- 
like innocence  and  goodness  in  a  rare  union, — a  charming 
picture  of  ennobled  humanity !  O  lead  me  into  a  room 
filled  with  such  men,  and  I  shall  deem  myself  to  be  re- 
moved from  earth  and  in  company  of  higher  spirits! 

Yes,  my  friend !  You  have  not  merely  kept  your  word, 
you  have  accomplished  more  than  you  had  promised.  I 
feel  myself  under  obligation  to  declare  so  in  writing,  in 
order  to  do  you  due  justice.  However,  brilliant  as  the  suc- 
cess of  your  endeavors  has  been,  you  will  not  be  able  to 
convince  the  pedagogues  of  the  truth  of  your  fundamen- 
tal theory.  They  will  say  on  all  sides,  "How  happy  is 
the  father  to  whom  such  a  son  was  born!"  They  will 
ascribe  the  boy's  advantages  more  to  the  nature  and  apti- 
tudes of  the  child,  than  to  his  father's  art  and  deserts. 
And,  to  tell  you  frankly,  I,  too,  am  one  of  those  who 
say:  "If  Karl  had  not  been  fortunately  organized,  he 
would  not  have  become  that  which  he  now  is."  I  know 
your  by  no  means  small  deserts  in  regard  to  him.  I 
know  your  power,  your  rare  patience,  the  firm  persistency 
with  which  you  pursue  your  purpose.  I  know  that  this 
boy  was  the  point  around  which  all  your  previous  life 
with  all  its  activity  has  gyrated;  that  you  have  known 
how  to  bring  everything,  speech  and  silence,  coming  and 
going,  work  and  rest,  everything  that  surrounds  the  boy, 


14         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

into  nearer  or  more  remote  relations  to  him  and  to  your 
purpose;  that  you  have  for  years  labored  untiringly,  un- 
interruptedly, with  ever-constant  powers  and  vivacity. 
Besides,  I  know  the  mighty  power  which  you  exert  with 
your  exceptional  persistency  on  all  those  on  whom  you 
wish  to  exert  it, — and  yet,  in  spite  of  all  that,  I  cannot 
disagree  with  those  pedagogues. 

It  is  not  only  difficult,  but,  indeed,  entirely  impossible 
to  determine  the  relative  part  played  by  Nature  and  art 
in  the  education  of  man,  because  during  the  process  of 
education  they  stand  in  interrelation  with  each  other. 
You  will  forever  want  proof  by  which  to  make  it  clear 
that  you  have  educated  a  healthy,  but  not  favorably  or 
fortunately  organized,  boy  by  means  of  the  art  of  treat- 
ment alone  to  become  a  superior  man.  None  the  less 
your  experiment  will  in  every  respect  remain  remarkable 
and  important  for  pedagogy,  and  a  detailed  account  of 
your  method  will  be  a  valuable  gift  to  the  public.  Nat- 
urally it  will  take  a  Witte  to  carry  this  method  into 
execution,  and  so  I  warrant  you  that  you  will  have 
few  imitators. 

SCHRADER, 

Preacher  at  Langenweddingen  near  Magdeburg. 


CHAPTER   III 

Did  my  Educational  Work  Proceed 
Successfully? 

The  way  I  instructed  and  educated  my  son 
must  not  only  have  had  a  good  beginning,  but 
must  also  have  proceeded  successfully,  since 
the  attention  of  the  cultured,  and  even  the  ac- 
tive participation  of  different,  nay,  mutually 
hostile,  governments  have  now  for  more  than 
ten  years  been  bestowed  upon  me. 

When  my  son  first  became  talked  about,  in 
his  eighth  year,  we  were  living  in  a  village, 
Lochau,  near  Halle,  in  surroundings  which 
certainly  were  not  calculated  in  themselves  to 
direct  the  attention  of  the  public  upon  a  child. 
Such  a  thing  may  take  place  more  easily  in 
a  city,  especially  a  large  city. 

Besides,  Karl's  unusual  education  fell  into 
a  period  when  Europe  was  shaken  in  its  very 
foundation,  and  when  our  country,  Prussia, 
was  almost  crushed.  I  am  speaking  of  the 
years  1807  and  1808.  People  had  then  other 
subjects  for  entertainment.  Great,  terrible  oc- 

15 


1 6  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

currences,  anxieties,  hopes,  longings  for  help, 
disappointments, — only  such  things  appeared 
remarkable.    Trifles  were  overlooked. 

The  attainments  of  a  child  must  have  been 
very  considerable,  they  must  have  been  ex- 
traordinary, if  they  w^ere  to  pass  through 
these  epochal  events,  find  a  place  for  them- 
selves, and  become  established.  And  this  they 
have  done. 

That  point  of  time  was  particularly  unfa- 
vorable, for  there  was  then  a  distinct  prejudice 
against  early  maturity  of  learning.  Men  like 
Salzmann,  Campe,  Trapp,  had  for  a  long 
time  spoken  against  it  with  emphasis  and  had 
objectively  pointed  out  the  uselessness  and 
harm  of  earlier  examples,  and  had  stigma- 
tized them  as  products  of  "hot-house  educa- 
tion." 

As  I  myself  considered  it  an  honor  to  have 
been  their  disciple,  I  am  willing  to  admit  that 
I  shared  their  opinion  in  this  very  matter, 
and  that  I  had  my  misgivings  when  I  saw 
something  taking  place  under  my  guidance 
of  which  I  was  afraid. 

Consequently  the  first  news  of  it  in  the  pub- 
lic papers  (the  letter  of  an  unknown  person 
in  the  Hamburger  Correspondent  giving  an 


My  Educational  Work  17 

exact  account  of  my  son's  public  and  private 
examination  in  Merseburg)  was  considered 
untrue  and  senseless.  A  Danish  savant  even 
denied  the  whole  fact  and  believed  that  he 
must  deny  it  from  inner  causes.  That  which 
seemed  incredible,  however,  soon  gained  cre- 
dence, when  repeated  examinations  drew 
forth  the  many  testimonials,  personally  signed 
by  such  men  as  Schuetz,  Tieftrunk,  Caesar, 
Bek,  Mahlmann,  Rost,  and  a  mass  of  excel- 
lent men,  to  which  learned  societies  and  uni- 
versities were  soon  added.  Soon  voices  rose 
on  all  sides  for  the  good  cause,  and  it  was  ac- 
cepted as  an  established  fact. 

The  particular  period  was  also  most  unfa- 
vorable, because  the  war  and  its  sad  conse- 
quences had  unsettled  everything.  Prussia 
seemed  forever  destroyed.  Its  inhabitants 
were  daily  drained  more  and  more,  and  I  was 
living  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  monarchy, 
for  Lochau  was  on  all  sides  surrounded  by 
Saxony.  There  could  be  no  thought  of  sup- 
port, and  yet  I  had  to  leave  the  village,  if 
Karl  was  not  to  stagnate,  that  is,  to  go  back. 

I  could  not  count  on  Prussia.  France 
wanted  to  get  money,  not  to  give  it,  while 
Saxony  could  hardly  have  the  wish  to  do 


l8         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

something,  since  I  in  no  way  stood  in  physical 
need.  I  had  a  good  parish  and  the  written 
assurance  of  a  still  better  one  to  come.  I 
lived  quite  comfortably  and  enjoyed  with  my 
family, — even  in  Leipsic, — all  the  pleasures 
of  my  station  of  life. 

Meanwhile  my  son's  education  was  still  in 
its  germ.  Countless  people  feared  evil  con- 
sequences. "In  his  tenth  or  twelfth  year  the 
poor  child  will  die  or  waste  away!"  they  fre- 
quently said,  in  a  truly  anxious  manner. 

Nevertheless,  the  city  and  the  university  of 
Leipsic  united  in  a  very  surprising  way,  and 
by  a  considerable  stipend  for  my  son  and  very 
kind  and  advantageous  offers  for  me  and  my 
wife  made  it  possible  for  me  to  give  up  my 
parish  and  to  make  up  my  mind  to  go  to  live 
in  Leipsic.  Every  sensible  person  will  sur- 
mise that  this  was  not  done  without  most  care- 
ful investigations  and  repeated  tests  of  my 
son. 

The  French  Westphalian  government  pro- 
ceeded in  the  same  manner.  It  examined  my 
son  repeatedly  and  with  suspicion,  but  ended 
by  offering  me  monetary  support,  which  was 
regularly  paid  out  to  me,  even  on  the  day 
when  the  Russians  were  firing  on  Kassel. 


My  Educational  Work  19 

When  Westphalia  collapsed,  my  patrons 
and  friends  took  care  of  me  and  my  son,  for 
Prussia,  my  fatherland,  which  for  seven  years 
had  methodically  been  sucked  dry  and  ex- 
hausted, was  in  the  midst  of  a  doubtful  war, 
while  Hanover,  Brunswick,  and  Hesse  hast- 
ened to  make  it  known  that  every  stranger 
from  another  state  should  repair  home,  and 
violently  rejected  any  demands  made  upon 
them  on  the  basis  of  Westphalian  recom- 
mendations. Yet  all  three  states  promptly 
and  freely  paid  to  me  what  I  asked  of  them 
on  the  basis  of  those  recommendations,  after 
having,  most  naturally  and  reasonably,  first 
convinced  themselves  that  the  money,  of 
which  they  were  very  much  in  need,  was  well 
spent  in  my  case. 

Then  many  Prussians  of  the  upper  class 
encouraged  me  to  turn  to  our  monarch.  The 
times  being  so  unpropitious,  I  did  not  dare  do 
so  for  a  long  while.  Finally,  having  been 
urged  anew,  I  made  a  cautious  inquiry,  and 
I  received  a  most  magnanimous  and  encour- 
aging answer.  Indeed,  after  a  closer  investi- 
gation of  the  matter,  I  was  granted  more  than 
I  had  dared  to  ask.  How  gracious  the  proofs 
of  royal  attention  and  favor  have  been,  which 


20  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

my  son  and  I  have  for  the  last  two  years  en- 
joyed here  in  Berlin! 

Since  all  this  has  been  maintained  without 
interruption  for  the  period  of  ten  years,  since 
the  most  different,  and  mutually  opposed 
men,  savants  and  statesmen,  even  monarchs, 
have  united  for  prompt  and  active  coopera- 
tion, the  cause  for  which  such  sacrifices  have 
sympathetically  been  made  must  be  good  and 
must  have  succeeded. 

A  mass  of  written  congratulations  and  ex- 
pressions of  heartfelt  interest,  which  came 
chiefly  from  men  whom  I  did  not  personally 
know,  a  mass  of  personal  proofs  of  kindness, 
well-wishing,  respect,  and  sincere  sympathy, 
attest  the  fact  that  my  undertaking  was  con- 
tinuously successful.  It  has  won  for  itself  the 
noble  ones  of  our  own  land  and  other  coun- 
tries, or  my  eyes,  ears,  senses,  and  intellect 
must  have  egregiously  deceived  me. 


CHAPTER   IV 

Is  MY  Son's  Education  Finished? 

So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  it  is.  I  have  long 
withstood  those  who  asserted  that  it  was  fin- 
ished, but  now  I  must  admit  it  is.  When  he 
was  eleven  years  old,  several  professors  at 
Goettingen  thought  that  it  was  not  necessary 
for  me  any  longer  to  accompany  my  son  to  his 
lectures,  that  he  behaved  perfectly  well,  was 
attentive,  made  the  proper  notes,  and  I,  there- 
fore, could  spare  myself  the  trouble.  None 
the  less  I  used  to  go  with  him,  made  all  the 
preparations  for  the  lectures  and  all  the  re- 
views together  with  him.  Later,  at  Goettin- 
gen and  at  Heidelberg,  I  stopped  it  all,  but 
I  proceeded  very  slowly  and  imperceptibly, 
before  leaving  him  entirely  to  his  own 
actions. 

Only  after  he  had  made  his  appearance 
several  times  as  an  author  in  difficult  matters, 
evoking  respect  and  applause,  only  after  he 
had  received  honors,  such  as  are  usually  be- 

21 


22         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

stowed  upon  a  real  savant  of  advanced  years, 
only  after  Our  Majesty,  the  King,  and  his 
minister  considered  him  worthy  to  undertake 
a  two-years'  scientific  journey  at  the  expense 
of  the  state,  and  that  he,  then  sixteen  years 
old,  was  fully  able  to  take  care  of  himself, — 
did  I  make  up  my  mind  to  consider  his  edu- 
cation finished  so  far  as  I  was  concerned,  and 
resolved  at  last  seriously  to  consider  my  own 
health. 

However,  hot  to  be  too  rash  and  do  things 
prematurely,  of  which  I  had  constantly  been 
in  fear,  I  wrote  to  our  honored  monarch  that 
from  considerations  which  I  adduced  I 
should  like  to  keep  my  son  another  year  with 
me,  in  order  that  he  might  have  an  opportu- 
nity to  prepare  himself  as  thoroughly  for  this 
distinguished  mission  as  he  had  formerly  pre- 
pared himself  for  every  important  change  in 
his  intellectual  life.  His  Majesty  gave  the 
necessary  consent  with  a  readiness  and  lib- 
erality which  throw  a  bright  light  both  on 
the  correct  view  and  on  the  noble  heart  of  the 
monarch.  It  was  only  then  that,  with  the  ap- 
proval of  my  patrons  and  friends,  I  left  the 
house  and  city  in  which  my  son  was  living. 

I  have  been  away  from  him  for  seventeen 


Is  my  Son's  Education  Finished?      23 

months,  and  during  that  time  I  saw  him  only 
once  in  Vienna  on  his  journey  to  Switzerland 
and  Italy. 

Not  to  push  him  out  into  the  world  all  at 
once,  while  he  was  still  so  young,  and  in  order 
not  to  make  the  change  from  the  considerate 
care  of  both  parents  to  the  absolute  self-de- 
pendence among  strangers  too  sudden,  I  left 
him  during  my  absence  with  his  mother  and 
in  the  circle  of  noble  friends,  who  fortunately 
belonged  to  all  classes  of  society  and  to  all 
ages,  and  recommended  to  him  that  in  the 
proper  season  he  should  at  my  expense  take 
trips  to  Leipsic  and  Dresden  and  to  their 
charming  surroundings,  Freiburg,  Chemnitz, 
Naumburg,  Jena,  Weimar,  Erfurth,  Gotha, 
Liebenstein,  Eisenach,  Kassel,  Goettingen, 
Brunswick,  Magdeburg,  Salzwedel,  etc., 
should  inspect  all  kinds  of  works  of  nature 
and  of  art,  and  should  make  use  of  libraries 
and  gain  personal  acquaintance  with  scholars, 
— in  short,  should  practically  prepare  him- 
self for  his  great  journey,  and  then  should  in 
four  or  five  months  return  to  his  mother  in 
Berlin,  in  order  once  more  to  begin  and  con- 
tinue the  theoretical  preparation.  All  that 
he  did  advantageously  to  himself,  and  in  May 


24  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

of  this  year  he  actually  started  on  his  greater 
journey.  After  having  been  with  him  in 
Vienna  for  two  months,  I  forever  told  him 
goodby,  and  he  is  now  living  beyond  the  Alps. 
I  obviously  can  no  longer  supervise  him.  He 
stands  alone,  in  the  care  of  God  and  his  own 
conscience.  I  must,  therefore,  assume  that  his 
education  is  completed,  in  so  far  as  I  am 
concerned. 

Of  course,  that  education  which  we  all  re- 
ceive until  our  death,  that  perfection  which 
we  obtain  through  the  circumstances  of  life, 
our  vicissitudes,  our  acquaintances,  our  con- 
verse with  the  living  and  the  dead, — that  edu- 
cation has  naturally  not  been  finished  and 
cannot  be  finished. 

When  I  started  on  my  journey  of  seventeen 
months,  he  was  bodily  and  spiritually  in  per- 
fect health,  sound  and  joyful,  and  worked 
with  pleasure  and  ease.  He  had  never  been 
ill,  and  had  not  even  had  the  diseases  of 
infancy. 


CHAPTER  V 

Every  Ordinarily  Organized  Child  may 

Become  a  Superior  Man,  if  He  is 

Properly  Educated 

This  is  a  proposition  which  I  maintained 
before  a  large  company  of  educators  at 
Magdeburg,  before  my  son  was  born,  and 
which  I  have  since  repeatedly  defended.  To 
speak  with  Helvetius,  "Every  ordinarily  or- 
ganized child  may  become  a  superior  man, 
if  only  he  is  excellently  educated." 

I  know  very  well  that  the  keys  of  a  piano 
that  have  no  strings  cannot  respond,  no  matter 
how  skilful  the  player  may  be.  I  just  as  cer- 
tainly know  that  an  expert  can  easily  remedy 
a  great  dissonance  and  elicit  an  agreeable 
melody  from  an  instrument  that  before  sound- 
ed wretchedly.  The  particular  instrument 
may  not  have  that  perfect  structure  that  dis- 
tinguishes some  other  instrument,  but  if  the 
first  is  properly  tuned,  while  the  second  be- 
comes more  out  of  order  every  moment,  a 

25 


26         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

piece  of  music  played  on  the  first  will  be  more 
agreeable  to  the  ear  than  one  played  on  the 
other. 

To  speak  without  similes.  If  a  child's  body 
or  mind  lacks  an  organ,  it  will  be  impossible 
even  for  the  greatest  educator  on  earth  to 
bring  out  that  which  it  is  the  property  of  that 
organ  to  develop.  But  if  all  the  organs  are 
present,  some  of  them,  however,  in  a  weaker 
degree  and  without  the  proper  perfection, 
and  in  their  active  power,  be  it  of  a  corporal 
or  spiritual  nature,  are  somewhat  behind  the 
others, — the  clear-sighted  educator,  but  only 
such,  may  be  able  by  degrees  completely  to 
overcome  these  deficiencies,  or,  at  least,  to  pro- 
duce results  which  would  startle  the  man  of 
reason  who  has  known  the  organ  in  its  former 
state  and  now  becomes  aware  of  the  greatly 
improved  results. 

Such  an  educator  will  be  able  to  raise  a 
child  of  mediocre  organization  by  means  of 
a  very  careful  treatment  to  a  degree  of  edu- 
cation which  excellently  organized  children, 
under  a  careless  and  improper  method  of  edu- 
cation, frequently  do  not  attain.  Hence  it 
must,  as  a  rule,  turn  out  to  be  true  that  a  child 
of  mediocre  organization  who  has  been  edu- 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    27 

cated  with  much  love,  cleverness,  attention, 
and  zeal  by  a  very  skillful  and  cautious 
educator  may,  in  the  realm  of  beings,  finally 
occupy  a  higher  position  than  a  highly  or- 
ganized child  who  has  been  carelessly  and 
badly  educated  by  thoughtless  and  inexperi- 
enced educators.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must 
be  self-evident  that  the  latter  could  and  must 
have  risen  much  higher  if  it  had  been  treated 
as  wisely  and  as  carefully  as  the  first.  And 
it  is  equally  clear  that  this  too  frequently  fails 
to  happen  in  our  imperfect  world,  that,  in- 
deed, it  cannot  happen  under  the  existing  cir- 
cumstances. It  is  therefore  obvious  that  many 
well  organized  children  go  backward,  and 
become  unreasoning,  ignorant,  and  even  bad, 
while  some  ordinarily  organized  children 
through  favorable  circumstances  rise  to  a 
point  reached  but  by  few  mortals. 

What  a  most  fortunately  organized  man 
may  become  under  the  most  appropriate  edu- 
cation and  most  favorable  circumstances,  that, 
I  assert,  we  do  not  know  at  all,  for  our  Alex- 
anders, Caesars,  Charlemagnes,  Henrys,  Fred- 
ericks, had  their  weak,  or,  more  correctly, 
their  bad  sides.  Consequently  they  came  very 
much  short  of  that  ideal  which  is  possible  even 


28  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

in  our  imperfect  world.  I  am  convinced  that 
an  exceptionally  well-educated  man  would  be 
greater,  stronger,  healthier,  more  beautiful, 
gentler,  more  courageous,  more  magnani- 
mous, nobler,  braver,  wiser,  wittier,  more 
earnest,  more  learned,  sensible,  moderate,  re- 
strained (of  course,  everything  in  its  right 
place), — in  short,  that  he  would  be  a  man 
who  would  stand  incomparably  nearer  to  the 
higher  beings  than  we  do. 

If  we  were  a  hundred  years  advanced  in  the 
art  of  education,  my  proposition  would,  per- 
haps, be  wrong.  Perhaps  it  would  not  be,  for 
it  would  still  be  a  question  whether  all  the 
means  for  awakening  and  educating  all  the 
powers  that  are  latent  in  every  child  had  been 
found  and  had  become  a  common  property, 
and  whether  there  were  many  parents  and 
educators  who  had  conscientiously  used  every 
opportunity  for  the  advancement  of  those 
under  their  charge  from  their  cradle  to  their 
completed  education.  Only  then  would  it  be 
possible  to  assert  that  a  father  of  an  ordinar- 
ily organized  child  could  not  accomplish 
anything  more  for  him  than  ten  other  fathers 
of  very  favorably  organized  children  did  for 
their  own,  and  so  could  not  advance  his  son 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    29 

any  farther,  and  had,  on  the  contrary,  to  let 
him  fall  behind  the  others. 

But  this  is  not  the  case  now.  We  are  still 
very  far  from  being  able  to  assert  that  others 
could  not  accomplish  still  more.  There  will 
hardly  be  a  sensible,  especially  an  experi- 
enced, man  who  will  not,  in  applying  a  sys- 
tem of  education,  discover  that  he  has  com- 
mitted some  blunders  which  have  been  in- 
jurious to  his  pupil  and  have  visibly  kept  him 
from  becoming  what  he  otherwise  might  have 
turned  out  to  be. 

If,  now,  it  is  quite  certain  that  our  usual 
method  of  education  and  instruction  is  still 
far  behind  that  which  an  individual  man  may 
accomplish,  because  he  exerts  all  his  powers 
in  the  desire  to  obtain  results, — then  it  is  quite 
comprehensible  that  such  a  man  would  be 
able  to  promote  the  lesser  aptitudes  better 
than  the  greater  aptitudes  are  generally  pro- 
moted at  present:  that  he,  therefore,  may  be 
able  to  educate  a  child  with  ordinary  organ- 
ization so  as  to  become  a  superior  man. 

But  since  my  proposition,  of  which  I  am 
as  convinced  as  of  my  existence,  has  been  uni- 
versally attacked,  although  a  very  few  per- 
sons, without  my  aid,  have  grasped  it  cor- 


30         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

rectly  and  put  it  in  the  clearest  light,  I  am 
constrained  to  believe  that  people  have  gen- 
erally misunderstood  it,  albeit  claiming  to 
understand  it,  and,  as  usual,  have  brought  for- 
ward a  mass  of  objections  which  frequently 
destroy  one  another  and  frequently  are  so 
weak  that  upon  closer  examination  they  col- 
lapse as  untenable. 

So  I  will  try  to  explain  it  at  greater  length, 
by  reproducing  as  faithfully  as  possible  one 
of  the  many  conversations  I  have  in  the  last 
twenty-five  years  had  upon  the  subject 

Mr.  A.  "No,  my  friend,  you  cannot  con- 
vince me  of  it.  For  from  this  it  would  fol- 
low that  all  men  are  born  with  equal  apti- 
tudes,— and  who  could  assume  such  a  thing? 
The  diversity  of  human  aptitudes  is  self- 
evident." 

I.  "To  me  also.  But  you  are  mistaken  in 
assuming  that  your  conclusion  actually  fol- 
lowed from  my  proposition." 

He.  "What?  You  mean  to  say  that  my 
conclusion  is  wrong?  Is  it  not  clear  that  all 
children  must  have  equal  aptitudes,  if  I  can 
educate  every  one  of  them  to  be  a  superior 
man?" 

I.  "In  the  first  place,  I  did  not  say  that 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    31 

you  could  do  so  with  every  child,  for  I  know 
that  there  are  cretins,  who  we  also  call  human 
beings;  I  know  very  well  that  the  gradation 
from  these  to  the  man  who  comes  into  the 
world  with  the  highest  possible  perfection  of 
organization  is  enormous ;  I  know  that  we  are 
unable  to  count  all  the  rounds  of  such  a 
ladder." 

He.  "You  mean  to  say  that  this  was  not 
your  idea?  Then  I  must  have  misunderstood 
you  very  much." 

I.  "That  you  have,  for  I  keep  saying  'from 
every  healthily  organized  child,'  and  that 
makes  a  great  difference." 

He.  "I  do  not  find  it  so,  or  I  do  not  un- 
derstand you." 

I.  "The  latter  may  easily  be  the  case.  So 
I  will  try  to  make  myself  clearer.  I  assume 
with  you  that  men's  aptitudes  are  very  differ- 
ent, that,  if  we  consider  all  their  bodily,  men- 
tal, and  moral  aptitudes  singly  and  in  their 
interactions,  we  truly  may  say  that  their  di- 
versities cannot  be  counted.  But  for  our  pur- 
poses we  must  consider  them  capable  of  men- 
suration. Let  us,  therefore,  assume  a  diver- 
sity grading  from  one  to  one  hundred.  The, 
above-mentioned  cretin  may  be  considered  as 


32  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

having  an  aptitude  of  one,  while  the  best- 
organized  man  possesses  one  of  one  hundred. 
Then  an  ordinarily  organized  child  may  be 
regarded  as  having  an  aptitude  of " 

He.  "Fifty.  That  is  clear.  But  of  what 
good  is  that?" 

I.  "You  will  soon  hear.  So  I  assume  that 
many  children  come  into  the  world  with  apti- 
tudes graded  as  fifty,  for  what  is  most  ordi- 
nary is  most  frequent.  Thus  your  son,  mine, 
and  the  son  of  uncountable  others  would  be- 
long to  this  number," 

He.  "Not  at  all.  I  will  admit  this  in  the 
case  of  my  son,  but  not  of  yours." 

I.  "Very  well.  To  please  you,  I  will  for 
the  present  say  nothing  about  it.  But,  let  us 
proceed  I  Think  of  ten  or  a  dozen  children 
whose  aptitudes  are  fifty,  but  in  various  rela- 
tions. Let  two  of  them  be  brought  up  in  the 
country,  entirely  without  any  instruction;  two 
others,  with  not  much  more  instruction,  in 
the  city,  employed  from  earliest  childhood  as 
apprentices  in  a  factory;  two  of  them  edu- 
cated in  a  poor  school,  two  in  a  better  school ; 
two  others,  carefully  and  well  brought  up  in 
the  family  circle;  finally,  two  who  have  been 
wrongly  educated  at  home.    You  will  easily 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    33 

perceive  that,  if  the  aptitudes  are  everything 
and  education  can  do  but  little  or  nothing  at 
all,  all  these  ten  or  twelve  children  should 
at  the  end  of  their  education  be  at  the  same 
level,  while  one  of  these  may  become  prince 
or  minister,  another  a  scholar,  a  third  a  mer- 
chant, a  ninth  a  beggar,  and  a  tenth  a  robber. 
But  do  you  believe  that  all  ten  would  be 
standing  on  the  same  level  of  human  perfec- 
tion?" 

He.  "Naturally  not.  For  one  will  have 
learned  much,  another — little,  a  third — noth- 
ing at  all;  hence  one  will  become  an  excellent 
man,  another — an  ordinary,  a  third — a  bad 
man." 

I.  "So  you  observe  from  this  example  how 
much  education  may  do.  But  let  us  over- 
look this  too.  Will  their  natural  aptitudes, 
which  originally  were  absolutely  the  same, 
still  be  absolutely  the  same  after  the  course 
of  twenty  years?" 

He.  "What  do  you  mean?" 

I.  "I  mean,  for  example,  will  all  ten  boys 
at  their  twentieth  year  be  possessed  of  the 
same  corporal  strength?" 

He.  "How  could  this  be  possible?  We  are 
speaking  only  of  what  is  ordinary,  of  the  nat- 


34         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

ural,  as  they  call  it.  Obviously  the  son  of 
the  robber,  the  day-laborer,  and  the  peasant 
will,  as  a  rule,  have  surprisingly  greater  bod- 
ily strength  than  the  son  of  the  artist,  the 
scholar,  and  the  minister." 

I.  "Very  v^elll     But  why?" 

He.  "That  is  clear.  Because  the  first  three 
have  naturally  been  developing  their  bodily 
strength,  and  in  their  particular  situations 
could  not  help  developing  it.  In  the  case  of 
the  other  three,  the  bodily  strength  will,  no 
doubt,  be  exercised  but  little  or  not  at  all, 
hence  it  will  remain  latent  or  die  out  com- 
pletely." 

I.  "So  you  admit  that  power,  say,  bodily 
power,  will  increase  in  proportion  as  it  is  put 
to  use." 

He.  "Certainly  I  It  is  the  same  as  in  the 
case  of  the  magnet.  The  more  a  magnet  is 
given  by  degrees  to  attract — of  course,  within 
the  extreme  limits  of  what  a  magnet  can  bear 
— the  more  it  will  attract." 

I.  "Well,  this  is  a  great  gain  for  me,  for 
you  admit  that  the  inborn  powers  of  man,  that 
is,  his  aptitudes,  develop  only  in  proportion 
as  they  are  put  into  activity  and  brought  out 
by  his  educators." 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    35 

He.  "Who  could  deny  this?  But  how  is 
this  against  me?" 

I.  "It  is  not  against  you,  but  it  helps  me 
very  much  in  the  establishment  of  my  propo- 
sition, for  it  follows  from  it  that  all  that  is 
necessary  is  in  the  most  careful  and  even  man- 
ner, from  the  cradle  on,  to  develop  a  child's 
natural  aptitudes,  in  order  to  educate  a  man 
who  will  stand  much  higher  than  all  the 
others  who  are  endowed  with  the  same  nat- 
ural aptitudes." 

He.  "You  are  mistaken.  The  case  is  mere- 
ly possible,  but  no  conclusion  can  be  drawn 
from  what  is  possible  to  what  actually  is." 

I.  "I  beg  your  pardon.  You  are  mistaken, 
for  we  are  not  yet  speaking  of  the  reality. 
You  have  already  admitted  the  possibility, 
and  this  is  all  I  want." 

He.  "My  friend,  you  seem  to  entangle  me 
with  invisible  threads,  and  then  you  will  all 
of  a  sudden  cry  out,  'Caught!'  But  that  will 
not  do!  If  your  assertion  contains  an  inner 
truth,  you  must  proceed  openly  with  me." 

I.  "I  have  done  so  all  along,  and  I  intend 
to  proceed  in  the  same  manner.  Here  is  the 
proof  of  it.  We  started  with  your  denial  of 
the  proposition  that  it  was  possible  to  make 


36         The  Education  of  Karl  Witie 

a  superior  man  out  of  any  healthily  organ- 
ized child,  provided  he  is  properly  educated." 
He.  "P'ght,  and  I  still  deny  it!" 
I.  "So  we  have  come  to  an  agreement  that 
men  come  into  the  world  with  the  most  di- 
verse aptitudes  of  body,  mind,  and  heart;  that 
the  very  favorably  as  well  as  the  very  unfav- 
orably organized  children  form  the  minority, 
while  the  ordinarily  organized  form  the  ma- 
jority. We  have  assumed  a  scale  of  aptitudes 
from  one  to  one  hundred,  placing  those  of  the 
cretin  at  one,  the  most  favorably  endowed 
human  nature  at  birth  at  one  hundred,  and 
the  endowment  of  most  children  at  fifty;  and 
you  have  granted  to  me  that  among  ten  chil- 
dren of  the  latter  kind  there  will  soon  appear 
an  enormous  diversity  of  the  growth  of  their 
powers,  in  proportion  as  this  or  that  has  re- 
ceived particular  attention ;  that  some  powers 
would  completely  stagnate,  if  they  were  not 
used  or  developed,  or  were  even  repressed. 
Is  this  so?" 

He.  "Yes,  yes !    But  what  follows  from  it?" 

I.  "What  I  have  deduced  from  it,  namely, 

that  all  that  is  necessary  is  evenly  and  with 

great  care  to  educate  the  natural  powers  of 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    37 

a  child,  that  is,  his  aptitudes,  in  order  to  make 
a  superior  man  of  him." 

He.  "Very  well!  I  admit  that  such  a  child 
will  in  time  stand  higher  than  those  who  be- 
gan with  the  same  aptitudes,  but  who  were 
later  badly  educated.  But  what  does  this 
prove  against  me?  I  may  assume  that  among 
these  ten  boys  five  are  educated  very  well. 
And  you  will  certainly  not  deny  that  such  a 
case  is  possible?" 

I.  "I  might  deny  it,  for  it  is  a  rare  thing 
for  one  to  be  educated  very  well.  However, 
I  will  grant  you  this,  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  word.  But  I  cannot  do  so  in  the  sense 
in  which  I  take  it,  for  I  understand  under 
an  especially  good  education  one  in  which 
already  the  child's  father  has,  either  by  fate 
or  by  his  parents,  been  educated  uncommonly 
well;  in  which  he  possesses  the  needed  health, 
time,  knowledge,  and  experience  to  be  able  to 
give  an  exceptionally  good  education;  in 
which  he,  besides,  brings  an  inner  inclination 
and  an  iron  will  for  the  education  of  his 
child;  and  in  which  he  appropriately  chooses 
his  vocation,  his  domicile,  his  consort,  his 
chief  and  secondary  occupations,  his  friends. 


38         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

his  acquaintances,  and  even  his  servants.  He 
must  be  able  and  w^illing  to  live,  now  as  a 
hermit,  now  in  traveling,  now  in  the  great 
world,  now  in  the  country,  now  in  a  provin- 
cial town,  now  at  the  university,  now  in  the 
capital.  Only  then  can  there  be  an  education 
such  as  I  have  in  mind,  an  entirely  excep- 
tional one,  by  means  of  which  all  the  child's 
powers  may  be  developed  in  the  widest  and 
most  even  manner. 

"It  was  my  ideal  to  be  able  to  change  at 
any  moment,  in  conformity  with  the  circum- 
stances, and  I  am  grateful  to  Providence  that 
I  was  granted  the  chance  at  least  to  approach 
my  goal.  But  I  should  gladly  have  given  my 
son  an  education  in  which  I  should  have  been 
able  to  make  these  changes  with  infinitely 
greater  rapidity,  every  time  they  appeared 
necessary  to  me.  But  you  will  easily  under- 
stand that  that  far  exceeded  my  powers,  that 
is,  my  ability;  and  it  is  only  under  such  con- 
ditions that  it  would  have  been  possible  for 
me  to  develop  all  his  aptitudes  evenly,  to  the 
utmost  limits  of  their  perfectibility." 
He.  "Very  well  I  But  who  can  do  so?" 
I.  "It  is  not  impossible,  as  you  will  admit. 
But  if  a  child  were  educated  in  this  manner, 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    39 

it  would  become  evident  that  education  placed 
him  above  all  those  with  whom  he  once  was 
equal." 

He.  "Yes,  if  I  should  assume  that  there 
exists  such  a  wise,  learned,  able,  good-hearted, 
and  iron-willed  father,  you  would  be  right; 
his  education  would  place  his  child  above  all 
those  who  formerly  were  equal  with  him.  But 
you  have  gained  little  by  this,  for  your  propo- 
sition says  a  great  deal  more.  According  to 
it  a  child  thus  educated  would  also  have  to 
surpass  those  who  are  born  with  the  aptitudes 
rated  at  sixty,  seventy,  eighty,  and  ninety. 
You  see,  I  am  magnanimous  enough  to  rate 
your  son  at  one  hundred. 

I,  "Do  not  do  that  I  I  shall  accept  what 
you  have  to  say  in  so  far  as  it  is  true.  We 
shall  soon  see  in  how  far  you  are  right.  I 
said:  'Every  ordinarily  organized  child  may 
become  a  superior  man,  if  he  is  educated  ex- 
ceptionally well.'  A  superior  man  does  not 
mean  the  first,  second,  or  third  man  in  the 
whole  kingdom.  One  may  be  satisfied  if  he 
towers  over  thousands,  which  he  certainly 
will,  for  the  children  who  are  born  with  apti- 
tudes o^  eighty,  eighty-five,  ninety,  ninety- 
five,  and  one  hundred  are  certainly  as  rare 


40         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

as  those,  thank  Heaven,  who  are  by  Nature 
stepmotherly  endowed  with  aptitudes  of  twen- 
ty-five, twenty,  fifteen,  ten,  five,  and  one.  Con- 
sider more  especially  that  many  children  are 
born  and  live  with  excellent  aptitudes  under 
such  circumstances  as  make  their  aptitudes 
not  only  useless,  but  even  harmful  to  them." 

He.  "How  so?" 

I.  "The  superior  mental  power  will  more 
easily  harm  than  help  the  son  of  the  robber, 
beggar,  and  poor  day  laborer.  It  can  hardly 
be  properly  developed,  on  account  of  the  un- 
fortunate circumstances  under  which  they 
live.  Consequently  it  will  look  for  a  side 
path,  just  as  a  seed  does  when  it  has  a  stone 
weighing  upon  it.  And  this  side  path  is  only 
too  often  a  bad  one.  The  more  mental  apti- 
tudes such  a  man  possesses,  the  more  I  trem- 
ble for  him,  for  what  under  other  circum- 
stances ennobles  the  land  and  supports  the 
throne,  will  easily  deteriorate  into  trickiness, 
wiles,  and  rascality.  This  will  happen  the 
more  certainly,  the  more  powerfully  and  the 
quicker  his  mind  asserts  itself,  for  the  neces- 
sary props  of  religion,  of  internal  and  exter- 
nal morality  are  lacking  in  him.  He  has  not 
been  accustomed  to  voluntary  renunciation, 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    41 

acquiescence  in  submission  to  God,  or  wise 
patience.  The  stronger  he  is,  the  more  cer- 
tainly he  will  try  to  crush  his  surroundings, 
and  what  might  have  ended  in  laurels  and 
stars  will  lead  him  to  the  branding,  the  gal- 
lows, and  the  rack.  Hence  all  the  favorably 
organized  children  who  are  born  under  such 
and  similar  circumstances  are  not  to  be  con- 
sidered at  all,  for  they  will  not  outshine  the 
best-educated  man  with  aptitudes  of  fifty. 

"Let  us  now  ascend  to  the  higher  strata  of 
society.  The  extremes  generally  meet.  It  is 
true  that  the  children  of  the  upper  classes 
could  be  educated  by  far  in  the  best  manner, 
but  are  they?  I  wish  I  were  obliged  to  an- 
swer. Yes.  Of  course,  in  their  case  there  are 
very  many  means  for  doing  so.  I  am  speak- 
ing of  the  external  means,  wealth,  opportu- 
nity to  see  and  hear  many  interesting  things, 
to  converse  with  superior  men,  and  to  make 
use  of  everything  which  advances  the  mind. 
If  the  parents  also  possessed  the  internal 
means,  and  if  these  were  honestly  applied, 
the  children  of  these  upper  classes  would  of 
necessity  become  the  best.  If,  therefore,  there 
is  a  distinguished  and  wealthy  father  who 
does  not  want  or  is  unable  himself  to  give 


42         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

his  son  a  good  education,  and  is  wise  enough 
to  choose  a  superior  educator  from  the  middle 
class,  who  will  be  a  father  to  his  son  in  the 
best  sense  of  the  word,  and  if  he  is  fortunate 
enough  to  find  such  a  one,  then  let  him  spend 
on  him  what  he  can  spend  on  himself, — he  will 
not  pay  too  much  for  him.  I  assume,  above 
all  else,  that  he  gives  this  educator  a  free 
hand  and  that  the  educator  does  his  duty.  If 
the  boy's  aptitudes  are  excellent,  so  much  the 
better.  If  they  are  mediocre,  such  an  educa- 
tor is  so  much  the  more  needed.  If  they  are 
slight,  he  is  indispensable.  But  how  often 
have  I  seen  such  means  neglected  1 

"In  the  choice  of  an  educator  they  do  not 
always  ask.  Which  is  the  better?  but  frequent- 
ly, Which  is  the  cheaper?  Which  one  has 
the  most  suave  manners?  or  even.  From  what 
country  does  he  come,  or  to  what  caste  does 
ihe  belong?  Other  parents  circumscribe  his 
free  activity  in  regard  to  his  charge.  Others 
forget  the  respect  and  friendship  which  they 
owe  him,  and  in  all  these  cases  hurt  the  child 
without  retrieve. 

"And  where  is  the  upper-class  family  which 
would  have  the  will  and  strength, — I  will  not 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    43 

sayl  on  account  of  their  son  to  sacrifice  their 
own  connections,  prejudices,  comforts,  dis- 
tractions, and  the  sensuous  enjoyments,  which 
present  themselves  every  day  in  another  form 
to  them, — but  only  firmly  to  remove  these 
from  their  son?  Are  not  most  children  of  this 
type  satiated  before  they  have  become  youths? 
And  if  the  parents  have  given  them  the  in- 
heritance of  pure  blood,  is  it  not  too  often 
polluted  in  their  earliest  years,  and  are  not 
their  bodies  so  weakened  that  they  turn  out 
to  be  feeble,  pale  house-dolls  whom  the  first 
northerner  throws  to  the  ground,  although 
with  such  educational  means  there  should 
have  resulted  young  Hercules  with  the  men- 
tal powers  of  an  Apollo? 

"We  do  not  meet  with  many  youths  of  the 
latter  kind  in  upper-class  society,  and  yet 
they  should  be  common  there;  they  should 
the  more  splendidly  increase  in  mind  as  in 
years,  because  the  opportunity  to  hear,  see, 
and  experience,  hence  to  train  and  exercise 
the  mind,  presents  itself  to  them  every  day; 
and  because  they  are  placed  in  offices  which 
should  be  of  help  to  them,  since  the  activities 
associated  with  these  ought  to  sharpen  their 


44         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

intellect,  increase  their  insight,  and  make 
them  capable  of  acting  and  participating  in 
great  things. 

"With  a  little  bit  of  reflection  you  will 
find,  my  friend,  that  I  should  have  to  fear 
much  from  this  side,  but  in  reality  there  is 
nothing  to  fear.  In  the  upper  classes  of  so- 
ciety there  are  really  not  many  youths,  per- 
haps not  even  children,  who  betray  superior 
powers  in  body,  mind  and  heart.  Or  are 
you  of  a  different  opinion?" 

He.  "Unfortunately  not.  But  what  has 
that  to  do  with  our  matter?" 

I.  "It  proves  to  you  that  if  a  child  with 
an  aptitude  of  fifty  is  really  brought  up  as 
well  as  a  child  might  be,  he  some  day  will 
tower  above  the  youth  of  the  upper  classes, 
even  if  they  were  born  with  aptitudes  of 
eighty,  ninety,  and  one  hundred." 

He.  "Very,  very  bad  it  is,  but  I  cannot 
find  you  wrong  in  it." 

I.  "Thus  we  have  left  only  the  children 
of  the  well-to-do  middle  class.  Since  this 
class  is  the  pith  of  the  nation,  I  must  dwell 
here  a  little  longer.  Children  from  the  well- 
to-do  middle  class  may  reach  a  high  degree 
of  development.    But  here  there  takes  place 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    45 

what  I  mentioned  before :  I  should  be  wrong 
if  the  art  of  education  had  already  advanced 
so  far  that  parents  or  educators  usually  ac- 
complished everything  which  man  is  capable 
of  accomplishing.  This  is  so  far  from  being 
the  case  that  I  may  truly  say  that  untold 
times  they  fail  completely.  I  frequently 
marvel  how  it  is  possible  for  intelligent  par- 
ents to  act  so  wrongly,  and  yet  this  is  a  daily 
occurrence.  I  tell  them  so,  and  they  do 
not  listen  to  me,  or  they  listen  and  feel  it, 
but  do  not  act  accordingly. 

"As  long  as  the  parents  love  one  child 
more  than  another;  as  long  as  their  love  is 
more  sensuous  than  intelligent,  more  animal 
than  human;  as  long  as  their  money,  or  their 
honors  in  the  state,  or  their  pleasures  and 
their  society  are  more  to  them  than  their 
children; — so  long  will  they  never  succeed  in 
developing  to  the  highest  degree  all  the 
powers  of  their  children  alike,  and  so  long 
will  the  one  who  is  less  endowed  by  nature, 
if  everything  has  been  done  for  him  that 
can  be  done,  of  a  surety  rise  above  the  others, 
even  if  their  natural  aptitudes  surpass  his 
own. 

"Add  to  this  that  a  vivacious  mind  fails 


46         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

more  easily  than  an  inert  one,  and  that  it 
will  more  easily  transgress  and  will  issue 
from  its  transgressions  with  greater  difficul- 
ty,— and  you  will  at  once  see  that  a  man  who 
has  been  educated  according  to  the  ideal 
which  the  perfect  educator  has  in  mind  will 
not  so  easily  find  another  one  who  surpasses 
him." 

He.  "Certainly.  But  you  must  admit  that 
another  person  with  greater  aptitudes  would 
advance  much  farther  if  he  enjoyed  the  same 
good  education." 

I.  "No  doubt  about  that!" 

He.  "Well,  how  far  would  he  advance?" 

I.  "To  a  degree  of  perfection  which  is 
still  unknown  to  us.  What  causes  us  to  make 
complex  calculations,  such  a  man  would  see 
through  in  a  moment;  what  to  us  is  hard 
work,  would  be  to  him  easy,  pleasant  play. 
Nothing  but  the  limitations  of  human  nature 
would  keep  him  in  bounds." 

He.  "Do  you  believe  that  a  man  could 
be  educated  so  far?" 

I.  "Why  should  I  not?  I  should  have 
to  deny  a  wise  and  kind  God,  if  I  did  not 
believe  it.  I  not  only  believe  it,  but  I  am 
absolutely  convinced  of  it." 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    47 

He.  "Well,  I  do  not  believe  it,  because 
it  would  be  productive  of  much  unhappi- 
ness." 

I.  "Unhappiness?     What  unhappiness?" 

He.  "Much,  very  much  unhappiness  I  Both 
in  the  upper  and  in  the  lower  classes  of 
society." 

I.  "You  make  me  very  curious,  because 
I  do  not  see  it." 

He.  "I  am  surprised,  for  it  seems  so 
clear." 

I.  "So  I  beg  you  earnestly  to  inform  me 
of  it." 

He.  "Gladly.  You  assume  that  there 
could  be  men  who  would  be  like  angels,  who 
everywhere  recognize  the  truth  without  prej- 
udice; who  everywhere  ask  only  what  is 
right,  true,  beautiful,  good,  sensible,  proper, 
in  accordance  with  duty,  and  so  forth,  and 
who,  finally,  consider  as  play  and  do  far 
better  what  to  us  is  hard  work.  You  con- 
sider this  possible,  do  you  not?" 

I.  "Very  possible.  Indeed,  I  hope  that  in 
a  hundred  years  there  will  be  many  such 
men,  if  universal  instruction  and  especially 
education  continue  to  advance  in  the  right 
direction." 


48  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

He.  "Then  I  pity  poor  humanity,  for  we 
shall  have  to  pass  through  another  revolu- 
tion." 

I.  "Why  so?" 

He.  "Very  naturally  so.  There  will  arise 
men, — I  follow  out  your  ideas,* — ^who  will 
stand  infinitely  higher  than  all  their  fel- 
lows  " 

I.  "I  must  interrupt  you.  Not  so  very 
much  higher!  Not  more  than  at  present 
our  men  of  superior  education  surpass  the 
others.  You  must  not  forget  that  I  have 
added  the  condition.  If  universal  instruction 
and  especially  education  continue  to  advance 
in  the  right  direction.  If  such  is  the  case, 
the  whole  will  remain  in  equipoise.  The 
man  of  superior  education  will,  of  course, 
stand  higher  than  the  man  of  superior  edu- 
cation at  present;  but  the  whole  human  race 
of  his  time  will  also  stand  higher,  hence 
will  come  as  close  to  him  as  the  present  race 
approaches  the  most  cultured  man  of  our 
time." 

He.  "This  somewhat  softens  my  objection, 
but  it  does  not  remove  it.  In  any  case  such 
a  man  will  stand  startlingly  higher,  hence  he 
will  want  to  drag  humanity  up  to  him.     In 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    49 

other  words,  he  will  wish  to  introduce  uni- 
versally justice,  truth,  beauty,  goodness,  rea- 
son, equity,  duty,  and  if  he  is  opposed  he 
will  call  forth  a  revolution  or  will  be  taken 
to  the  insane  asylum." 

I.  "Either  will  be  likely  only  in  the  same 
degree  in  which  it  is  at  present  and  has  been 
ever  since  the  world  has  existed.  Extraordi- 
nary men  have  shaken  the  moral  world  more 
than  once.  But  as  long  as  we  believe  in  a 
Providence,  we  must  assume  that  it  per- 
mitted this  to  happen  for  the  best  of  human- 
ity. Besides,  do  not  forget  that  I  said  that 
all  the  powers  of  a  man  educated  in  a  supe- 
rior way  must  be  developed  evenly.  If  this 
is  done,  his  heart  will  certainly  not  be  poor 
in  goodness,  meekness,  and  patience,  and  in 
such  a  case  love  and  sympathy  for  his  fellow- 
men  will  soften  the  rough  edges  and  sharp 
points  in  his  desires  and  acts." 

He.  "But  if  this  should  not  happen?" 
I.  "Since  you  proceed  from  our  supposi- 
tion that  in  a  superior  system  of  education 
all  the  powers  are  symmetrically  developed, 
your  objection  does  not  touch  me.  But  I 
may  allow  it  to  be  valid,  and  yet  it  does  not 
embarrass  me." 


50  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 


He.  "Indeed?" 

I.  "Yes.  You  will  admit  that  a  sharp 
knife  may  be  used  as  much  for  good  as  for 
evil,  for  eating  as  for  killing,  will  you  not? 
Am  I  to  honor  and  respect  less  the  artist 
who  has  made  it,  on  account  of  its  possible 
misuse?" 

He.  "Certainly  not." 

I.  "My  son  was  permitted  to  drink  wine 
during  long  walks  and  before,  during,  and 
after  exhaustive  exertions.  I  almost  encour- 
aged him  to  do  so,  although  he  did  not  cus- 
tomarily drink  wine.  Let  us  assume  the  un- 
fortunate case  that  he  would  become  a 
drunkard,  thus  weakening  in  body  and  mind. 
Should  I  be  blanaed  for  having  given  him 
wine  as  medicine?" 

He.  "Not  at  alll" 

I.  "The  art  of  writing,  the  invention  of 
printing,  powder,  the  discovery  of  America, 
and  so  forth,  are  all  discoveries  which,  with 
the  good  which  they  have  produced,  have 
also  caused  much  evil.  Are  they,  on  that  ac- 
count, to  be  hated  or  despised?" 

He.  "No,  no!" 

I.  "Shall  we,  perhaps,  do  the  way  our 
fathers   and   mothers   did    thirty   and    forty 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    51 

years  ago,  when  they  purposely  did  not  al- 
low their  daughters  to  learn  writing,  so  that 
they  would  not  be  able  to  write  love  letters, 
and  thus  drove  them  into  the  nets  of  low 
cheats,  lovelaces,  and  pimps?" 

He.  "Heaven  forbid!" 

I.  "Well,  then  let  us  do  what  is  good 
honestly  and  with  all  our  power,  trusting 
in  God  who  will  prevent  the  evil  conse- 
quences or  will  lead  to  magnificent  results. 
Shall  we  wish  for  no  Washingtons  and 
Franklins  because  they  accomplished  the 
revolution  which  has  raised  North  Amer- 
ica so  highly  on  the  throne  of  ennobled 
humanity,  and  will  continue  to  raise  it  still 
more  highly?  'If  England,  the  ruler,  had 
met  her  subject  daughter  halfway  in  a  friend- 
ly manner,  there  would  have  been  no  revolu- 
tion, and  the  happiness  intended  by  the  Deity 
would  none  the  less  have  been  attained.'  In 
these  words  lies  everything  that  I  need  to 
say,  nay,  even  more  than  you  think." 

He.  "Oh,  I  understand  you,  and  you  are 
perfectly  right.  The  Heavens  grant  that 
this  experience  and  other  experiences  like  it 
may  produce  the  result  which  they  could  and 
should  produce!" 


52  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

I.  "I  hope  so,  for  humanity  advances  in- 
cessantly, and,  thank  Heaven,  toward  what 
is  better.  I  can  think  only  forty  years  back, 
but  in  these  very  forty  years,  as  you  know, 
a  history  of  at  least  four  hundred  years  has 
passed  by  us.  I  have  lived  to  see  mighty 
upheavals;  I  have  more  than  once  suffered 
terribly  from  them;  and  yet  I  aver  that  the 
present  time  is  far  preferable  to  that  of  old. 
As  a  man  advanced  in  years  I  could  easily 
foster  prejudices  for  olden  days;  as  an  expe- 
rienced man  I  know  the  thousandfold  evils 
that  have  walked  the  earth, — and  yet  I  bless 
that  fate  that  has  allowed  me  to  live  until 
now,  for  truth  and  reason  have  mightily 
fought  their  way  forward.  The  rights  of 
humanity  are  recognized,  even  where  it  is 
done  with  anger.  The  classes  that  once  were 
treated  by  the  laws  as  herds  and  were  arbi- 
trarily crushed,  now  stand  up  like  men,  for 
society  has  demanded  and  obtained  consid- 
eration for  them." 

He.  "True!  Good  and  true!  But  this 
very  turn  of  our  conversation  reminds  me 
of  another  objection.  Let  us  see  whether 
you  are  able  to  remove  this  also!" 

I.  "Gladly!     Only  let  me  ask  you   first, 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    53 

through  whom  have  those  splendid  results, 
which  you  yourself  recognize  as  such,  been 
produced,  through  better  or  through  worse 
men?" 

He.  "What  do  you  mean  by  that?" 

I.  "What  I  mean  to  say  by  it  does  not 
belong  here  as  yet.  First  of  all  we  are  con- 
cerned with  what  I  say.  So  I  ask  you  again, 
are  these  recognized  excellent  effects  the 
work  of  men  who  were  educated  especially 
well  or  ill?  Mind  you,  I  include  in  edu- 
cation everything  which  time,  place,  cir- 
cumstances, intercourse,  incidents,  and  vicis- 
situdes have  done,  thus  aiding  in  the  edu- 
cation. 

He.  "Now  I  understand  you.  Well,  yes, 
through  the  most  cultured,  for  I  am  not  so 
foolish  as  to  adduce  the  inhuman  beings 
of  the  French  atrocities  against  you." 

I.  "That  you  could  not  do,  if  you  wanted 
to  keep  your  eye  on  truth,  justice,  and  equity. 
It  was  the  superciliousness,  stubbornness,  and 
weakness  of  the  opposite  party  which  pro- 
duced and  fostered  these  abominations.  As 
soon  as  they  came  into  power,  they  first 
struck  at  the  wiser  and  better  men,  because 
these  always  opposed  their  cruelty  and  un- 


54         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

reason.  Do  not  forget  that  wherever  there  is 
talk  about  a  dragon,  there  is  also  mention 
made  of  a  swamp  and  cave  as  producer  and 
habitat  of  such  a  creature.  Destroy  the  two 
from  the  start,  and  there  will  be  no  evil 
dragon!  Destroy  them  later,  and  he  will 
soon  disappear,  and  the  evils  which  he  has 
been  doing,  because  they  did  not  proceed, 
rationally,  will  now  at  least  be  destroyed." 

He.  "I  understand,  and  you  are  right. 
But  now  comes  my  objection.  I  wish  you 
could  overcome  it,  for  it  seems  to  me  to  be 
more  important  than  the  first." 

I.  "You  would  not  have  said  so,  perhaps, 
fifteen  minutes  ago.    But  let  me  hear  it  I" 

He.  "You  assert  that  a  time  could  and 
would  come  when  individuals  would  in  their 
development  rise  almost  as  high  as  the 
higher  beings,  that  even  the  whole  human 
race,  at  least  whole  nations,  would  attain  a 
much  higher  degree  of  culture." 

I.  "Certainly!  I  hope  for  it  as  a  man. 
I  believe  it  as  a  man  of  experience.  I  am 
convinced  of  it,  because  I  am  a  rational 
being,  and  believe  in  an  almighty,  all-wise, 
and  all-good  God." 

He.  "Very  well!     I  do  not  deny  it,  it  is 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    55 

a  beautiful,  elevating  idea.  But  where  shall 
we  then  get  our  worker-bees  from?  For  the 
worker-bees  of  the  present — the  lower  strata 
of  the  people — ^will  rise  so  highly  in  edu- 
cation that  they  will  not  be  willing  to  work." 

I.  "You  are  mistaken,  my  friend!  This 
can  never  happen  in  an  all-sided  education, 
and  the  one-sided  one,  which  now  is  gener- 
ally called  enlightenment,  is  not  to  be  con- 
sidered by  us,  for,  as  I  said,  all  the  aptitudes 
of  man  are  to  be  developed  symmetrically, 
consequently  the  aptitudes  of  his  heart,  his 
disposition,  his  good  will,  his  moral,  his  re- 
ligious sense  are  to  be  equally  developed, 
and  as  highly  as  possible.  Virtue  and  fear 
of  God,  as  well  as  love  for  men,  for  one's 
duties  and  for  God  must  attain  the  highest 
perfection  in  one  educated  in  a  superior  way. 
Consequently  he  will  respect  his  calling,  will 
love  his  duties,  and  will  gladly  perform  the 
work  of  his  vocation,  in  order  to  please  the 
Highmost." 

He.  "My  dear  friend!  I  do  not  believe 
you  in  this.  What?  You  mean  to  say  that 
a  very  cultured  man  will  be  willing  to  dig, 
plow,  harrow,  mow,  thresh,  and  so  forth? 
Never!" 


56         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

I.  "You  are  mistaken.  There  have  been 
shepherds  who,  with  their  most  meager  in- 
come, performed  their  still  more  lowly  work 
faithfully  and  honestly,  indeed,  with  sincere 
love  for  it,  although  they  stood  in  real  cul- 
ture higher  than  many  a  general,  minister, 
or  prince." 

He.  "I  should  like  to  know  of  such  a 
shepherd." 

I.  "You  may  easily  know  one.  Read 
about  David  Klaus,  the  cowherd  at  Halber- 
stadt,  whose  life  has  been  described  by  Kon- 
sistorialrath  Streithorst. 

"A  peasant  of  this  kind  was  Kleinjogg,  and 
I  have  known  similar  day  laborers  and  work- 
men who  rose  far  above  their  station  of  life 
and  yet  loved  it  sincerely  and  carried  out 
their  duties  joyfully.  And  it  has  to  be  so 
if  the  education  is  of  the  right  kind.  A 
school-teacher  and  country  preacher  are  cer- 
tainly abused  men,  if  they  want  to  do  their 
duties.  They  have  a  mass  of  trifling,  me- 
chanical labors  to  perform,  hence  a  mass  of 
very  unpleasant  afifairs  to  deal  with.  The 
country  preacher  has  even  such  duties  to 
perform  as  endanger  his  health  and  his  life. 
I   have   known   men   in   both   callings  who, 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    57 

with  the  education  of  a  Konsistorialrath  and 
Professor,  were  obliged  to  struggle  with 
want,  and  yet  joyfully  did  everything  for 
God's  sake,  do  you  understand  me,  my 
friend?  for  the  sake  of  God  who  rules  in 
their  breasts  as  in  the  universe  at  large,  in 
order  to  cultivate  in  the  best  manner  possible 
this  small  corner  in  the  great  garden  of  the 
Deity,  mindful  of  the  promise,  'Thou  hast 
been  faithful  in  a  very  little,  have  thou  au- 
thority over  ten  cities.' 

"There  is,  therefore,  no  danger  in  true 
culture.  The  worker-bees  will,  as  before, 
find  a  pleasant  occupation  in  flying  about  in 
God's  free  air,  in  finding  the  flowers  useful 
to  them,  and  in  industriously  collecting  the 
honey-juice  and  the  wax-dust.  They  will 
find  their  pleasure  and  pride,  as  before,  in 
accomplishing  most  for  themselves  and  for 
the  common  weal.  If  this  does  not  happen, 
the  fault  lies  with  our  enlighteners. 

"Suppose  even  that  among  them  there  will 
be  some  who  will  rise  to  an  upper  class,  who 
will  pass  from  the  shepherd's  staff  to  the 
pen,  from  the  plow  to  the  painter's  brush  or 
etcher's  tool,  what  of  it?" 

He.  "That  is  just  what  I  have  been  wait- 


58         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

ing  for.  I  say  that  it  does  do  harm,  for  we 
shall  soon  have  no  manual  workmen.  There 
will  be  a  lack  of  work-hands  to  produce  and 
prepare  the  necessaries  of  life  for  us.  We 
shall,  therefore,  go  hungry,  thirsty,  and  cold, 
because  the  lower  classes  have  become  too 
well  educated,  too  refined,  too  tender,  and 
too  much  ennobled,  to  be  willing  to  stick 
to  the  clod  of  earth  and  dig  in  it." 

I.  "Rest  calm,  my  friend!  There  will  al- 
ways be  many  who  will  want  to  remain 
worker-bees.  I  am  assured  of  this  by  the 
diversity  of  natural  aptitudes  which  will 
persist  to  the  end  of  the  world,  and  by  the 
frailty  of  the  human  race,  its  inborn  in- 
clination toward  indolence,  its  tendency  to 
do  that  which  is  easiest,  and  our  universal 
love  for  moving  actively  in  the  open.  Hunt- 
ing and  fishing,  no  matter  how  low  they 
stand  in  the  scale  of  labor,  are  carried  on 
with  pleasure  and  with  true  passion,  even 
by  the  highest  men  on  earth.  Nor  have  I 
any  fear  for  wood-chopping,  digging, — two 
sensible  occupations  of  many  learned  men, 
in  order  to  save  themselves  from  hypochon- 
dria,— plowing,  mowing,  and  threshing. 
There  will  always  be  found  men  who  will 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    59 

like  to  do  it.  I  am  rather  afraid  that,  with  the 
higher  perfection,  we  shall  have  too  many 
unemployed  hands." 

He.  "How  curious  you  are!  I  should 
think  that  this  did  not  follow  from  what  you 
said  before." 

I.  "Not  directly,  but  certainly  indirectly. 
We  all  know  that  there  are  countries  even 
now  where  there  are  too  many  unemployed 
hands,  because  the  higher  culture  pressed 
the  fire,  water,  and  air  into  service." 

He.  "Oh,  you  mean  England." 

I.  "Yes,  and  a  hundred  other  places  as 
well.  It  was  only  yesterday  that  I  visited 
a  factory  where  one  little  steam  engine  was 
performing  the  work  of  three  or  four  hun- 
dred persons,  and  was  performing  it  better 
than  they  possibly  could.  But  they  have  al- 
ready built  a  second  one  in  the  same  factory, 
which  will  throw  out  more  than  one  thou- 
sand persons.  Who  knows  but  that  in  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  we  shall  be  able  to 
dig,  harrow,  plow,  mow,  bind,  transport,  and 
so  forth,  by  means  of  machinery,  even  as  it 
is  now  the  case  with  propelling  and  paving." 

He.  "You  put  the  weapons  into  my  hand, 
for  I  rightly  ask  you:  How  are  we  going  to 


6o         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

occupy  the  superfluous  hands?  There  will 
be  many  of  them,  for  there  are  here  and 
there  even  now  more  than  needed,  and  hu- 
man culture  will  still  continue  to  grow,  and 
the  human  race  is  said  to  be  on  an  annual 
increase.  Thus,  for  example,  inoculation 
against  small-pox  now  saves  the  lives  of  hun- 
dreds who  would  otherwise  have  died." 

I.  "My  dear  friend,  this  is  God's  busi- 
ness. If  He  has  given  us  the  power  and 
the  will  to  rise  higher,  it  is  our  duty  to  do 
so.  It  is  His  business  to  see  to  it  that  the 
whole  does  not  lose  its  balance.  And  He 
will  certainly  do  so.  A  hundred  years  ago 
people  would  have  considered  it  impossible 
to  be  happy  under  the  circumstances  which 
we  have  lived  through,  hence  we  need  not 
worry  uselessly  over  what  may  happen  in 
another  hundred  years.  But  we  should  be 
acting  irrationally,  nay,  in  the  strictest  sense 
of  the  word,  godlessly,  or  rather  most  irrev- 
erently, if  we  rejected  that  which  is  better, 
or  did  not  help  in  advancing  it,  because  in 
our  short-sightedness  we  see  difficulties  heap- 
ing up  a  hundred  years  hence.  My  friend, 
it  will  take  a  long  time  for  all  the  arable 
land  in  Europe  to  be  dug  up,  planted,  and 


Every  Child  may  Become  Superior    6i 

weeded.  It  will  be  a  still  much  longer  time 
before  Asia,  Africa,  and  America  will  con- 
tain no  more  uncultivated  paradises.  At 
present,  men,  from  indolence,  prejudice,  and 
foolish  love  for  the  corner  in  which  they 
were  born,  do  not  want  to  emigrate  thither. 
The  Deity  will  compel  them,  through  the 
expected  higher  enlightenment,  to  turn  their 
attention  to  those  districts  as  well,  and  thus, 
with  the  aid  of  the  universal  ennoblement, 
the  whole  earth  will  become  a  great  garden 
of  God,  where  one  will  joyfully  observe  on 
all  sides  the  visible  traces  of  human  labor, 
whether  of  the  hands  or  the  head. 

"A  mass  of  former  inhabitants  of  France 
are  now  settled  in  America.  Fate  drove 
them  thither, — I  say  this  from  conviction, — 
and  not  accident.  Who  knows  what  impor- 
tant consequences  this  emigration  will  show 
in  a  few  hundred  years?  For  did  not  Rich- 
elieu accomplish  a  great  deal  of  good  in  a 
short  time  at  the  Black  Sea,  both  for  Russia 
and  for  humanity?  Famine  drove  two  years 
ago  a  large  number  of  Swiss  to  Russia  and  to 
America.  So  much  the  better,  for  there  they 
will  live  more  comfortably  than  at  home, 
and  will  do  much  good." 


62  The  Education  of  Karl  W'ttte 

He.  "But  when  the  earth  will  be  filled 
with  men,  which  will  happen  some  day,  what 
then?" 

I.  "My  dear  friend  I  This  is  one  of  the 
secrets  or  enigmas, — as  you  please — which 
the  Deity  has  preserved  for  Himself,  even  as 
the  preservation  of  the  sexes  in  an  equal  pro- 
portion. With  our  present  degree  of  educa- 
tion I  consider  it  not  only  foolish,  but  even 
impudent,  to  try  to  pass  any  opinion  on  the 
matter.    This  is  His  affair  1" 


CHAPTER    VI 

Did  I  Intend  to  Make  a  Precocious 
Scholar  Out  of  my  Son? 

I  DID  not  mean  to  make  a  savant  of  him, 
much  less  a  precocious  scholar.  This  state- 
ment is  absolutely  true,  but  I  shall  not  be 
surprised  if  it  appears  strange,  and  even  un- 
believable, to  most  readers. 

But  let  me  tell  what  I  wanted  to  make 
of  him;  then  it  will  appear  of  itself  what 
I  did  not  want  him  to  become. 

I  wanted  to  educate  him  fo  be  a  man  in 
the  noblest  sense  of  the  word.  So  far  as  I 
in  my  circumstances  could  do  so  and  was 
aided  in  this  matter  by  my  knowledge  and 
experience,  he  was  first  of  all  to  be  a  healthy, 
strong,  active,  and  happy  young  man,  and 
in  this,  as  everybody  knows,  I  have  suc- 
ceeded. 

He  was  to  enter  manhood  with  this  inval- 
uable equipment.  He  was  to  develop  his 
bodily  powers  to  the  utmost  extent  and  yet 

63 


64         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

harmoniously,  even  as  he  should  do  with 
his  intellectual  powers.  It  would  have  been 
in  the  highest  degree  unpleasant  for  me  to 
have  made  of  him  pre-eminently  a  Latin 
or  Greek  scholar,  or  a  mathematician.  For 
this  reason  I  immediately  interfered  when- 
ever I  thought  that  this  or  that  language  or 
science  attracted  him  more  than  any  other 
at  too  early  a  time. 

The  same  I  did  with  the  strengthening 
and  refining  of  his  senses,  which  were  exer- 
cised with  care  and  developed  as  evenly  as 
possible. 

Aided  by  my  wife,  I  proceeded  in  the 
same  manner  in  the  exercise  of  those  powers 
which,  alas!  are  only  too  seldom  taken  into 
consideration,  such  as  common  sense,  power 
of  imagination,  delicacy  of  feeling,  etc. 
Every  sensible  person,  who  has  ripely  con- 
sidered what  I  have  so  far  said,  will  himself 
understand  that  we,  his  parents,  laid  the  chief 
weight  on  the  education  of  the  young  heart, 
and  that  we  worked  together,  from  the  time 
he  was  in  his  mother's  arms,  to  regulate  his 
likes  and  dislikes  according  to  the  laws  of 
external  and  internal  morality,  more  particu- 
larly according  to   the  laws   of   the   purest 


A  Precocious  Scholar  65 

piety,  and  that  some  of  these  likes  and  dis- 
likes had,  therefore,  to  be  repressed,  while 
others  were  encouraged  and  promoted. 

One  will  see  that  the  picture  which  hov- 
ered before  my  mind's  eye  bore  very  little 
resemblance  to  the  professional  scholar  of 
twenty  years  ago.  It  bears  a  somewhat  closer 
resemblance  to  the  scholar  of  to-day,  and  it 
may  be  hoped  that  in  another  twenty  or  fifty 
years  the  resemblance  will  be  still  closer. 

Certainly  the  closet  scholars  of  the  time 
when  I  was  considering  the  education  of 
my  future  children, — I  am  speaking  of  the 
rule,  for  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  mem- 
orable exceptions,  whom  I  know  and  honor, 
— were  chiefly  sickly,  weak,  more  dead  than 
alive  in  life,  and  in  society  shy  and  awk- 
ward. Their  external  vision  seldom  went 
beyond  the  nearest  books,  and  their  internal 
vision  not  much  farther  than  the  science  of 
their  vocation.  From  this  resulted  that  mea- 
ger and  dry  conversation  with  any  one  who 
was  not  of  their  guild,  and  those  short- 
sighted judgments  about  subjects  of  daily  oc- 
currence, by  which  they  made  themselves  so 
despised  and  ridiculous  among  men  of  the 
world  and   refinement,  so  that  it  became  a 


66  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

proverb  with  them  to  say,  "He  is  as  pedantic 
and  helpless  as  a  scholar,"  or,  "You  can  no- 
tice ten  steps  away  that  he  is  a  scholar." 
What  an  endless  number  of  ridiculous  in- 
cidents have  arisen  from  it!  It  would  be 
easy  to  fill  a  whole  book  with  them. 

The  young  man,  who  was  considered  a  wit 
in  society  or  who  excelled  with  his  gentler, 
refined  sentiments  and  consequently  despised 
the  common,  eternally  recurring  lecture- 
room  passages,  generally  learned  by  heart 
or  copied  from  somewhere,  whose  ennobled 
power  of  imagination  made  itself  known  by 
well-chosen,  purely  German,  refined  expres- 
sions in  speaking  and  writing,  at  once  fell 
under  suspicion  of  those  guildmen.  More 
than  once  have  I  heard  them  express  the 
judgment,  "So  and  so  cannot  possibly  have 
learned  anything,  for  he  writes  verses  and 
shines  in  society." 

On  the  other  hand,  prolix,  dry  disserta- 
tions, with  long,  intricate  periods,  gained  for 
an  author,  especially  if  he  frequently  quoted 
the  old  classics,  the  usual  praise,  "He  will 
amount  to  something,  for  he  has  been  trained 
on  the  ancients!" 

The    good    ancients!      How    sarcastically 


A  Precocious  Scholar  67 

they  would  laugh,  if  they  heard  that  such 
a  housefly,  such  a  bookworm,  was  compared 
with  them,  whose  life  from  morning  until 
evening  passed  in  continuous  action,  in  re- 
peated conversations  about  the  business  of 
their  fatherland  or  their  paternal  city,  in  the 
market  or  near  the  city  gates! 

Mind  you,  they  were  all  essentially  in- 
terested in  the  rise  and  fall  of  their  father- 
land, while  those  learned  artisans  frequently 
knew  no  more  about  it  than  that  it  existed. 

One  would  hardly  believe  it  that  one  of 
the  greatest  among  those  savants  used  to  say 
to  his  students  that  Latin  and  Greek  was 
the  only  thing  that  a  sensible  man  needed 
to  study,  and  that  the  so-called  sciences  (ex- 
cluding the  sciences  of  antiquity)  and  the 
modern  languages  were  childish  plays  which 
one  could  conveniently  study  at  the  tea-table. 

In  regard  to  the  heart  I  need  only  call  to 
mind  the  well-known,  almost  classical  ex- 
pressions, "scholars'  envy,"  "scholars'  haugh- 
tiness," "university  cabals,"  to  be  believed 
that  I  did  not  mean  to  make  a  professional 
scholar  out  of  my  son. 

However,  in  so  far  as  he  had  to  become 
a  scholar,  he  was  at  least  not  to  be  a  pre- 


68         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

cocious  scholar,  if  I  had  anything  to  do  with 
it.  A  precocious  scholar,  a  hothouse  plant, 
a  sickly  child,  a  child  corpse,  all  these  were 
to  me,  through  my  own  experience,  through 
my  teachers,  and  through  the  great  precur- 
sors in  the  art  of  education,  identical  terms. 
I  should  have  regarded  it  a  heavy  trans- 
gression against  God  and  against  my  son,  if 
I  had  allowed  myself  to  bring  him  up  as  a 
precocious  scholar. 

All  I  wanted  to  accomplish  with  my  son 
was  that  in  his  seventeenth  or  eighteenth 
year  he  should  be  mature  for  the  university, 
but  that  he  should  then  have  such  a  many- 
sided  and  thorough  education  as  to  be  able 
to  compete  with  any  graduate,  with  the  tacit 
conviction  of  his  power  to  surpass  them. 
That  was  all  I  wanted,  and  nothing  more! 


CHAPTER    VII 

How  Came  my  Son  to  be  a  Precocious 
Scholar? 

That  happened  quite  naturally.  If  my 
friend  Glaubitz,  who  knew  me  better  than 
anybody,  was  right,  it  could  not  help  hap- 
pening. In  spite  of  his  mediocre  aptitudes 
and  in  spite  of  my  aversion  against  precocity, 
the  foundation  was  laid  through  the  educa- 
tion which  he  had  received,  and  the  results 
had  to  follow  as  surely  as  a  ball  must  roll 
down  an  inclined  plane  once  it  has  been 
placed  at  its  upper  end. 

I  did  not  recognize  the  fact  then,  for  I 
was  not  sufficiently  well  acquainted  with  hu- 
man nature,  its  powers,  its  perfectibility.  I 
judged  only  from  what  I  knew  and  what  I 
saw  all  about  me.  Consequently  my  judg- 
ment could  not  help  being  wrong,  and  I 
had  to  study  human  nature  more  closely. 

Oh,  it  stands  very  highly,  much  more 
highly  than  we  imagine!     But  this  is  never 

69 


70         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

seen  under  the  so-called  regular  instruction. 
The  usual  method  of  education  is  a  large, 
heavy  dray  which  cannot  pull  itself  from  its 
deep  ruts,  or  travel  at  a  faster  pace,  and 
which,  considering  the  many  mediocre,  or, 
to  speak  more  correctly,  the  many  ill-pre- 
pared minds,  should  not  attempt  to  do  other- 
wise. 

These  minds  are  like  feeble  itinerants, 
who  walk  by  the  side  of  the  dray  and  have 
the  more  confidence  in  that  dray,  the  slower 
and  the  more  surely  it  advances.  The  poor 
fellows  would  be  frightened  out  of  their 
wits  if  it  began  to  travel  more  rapidly,  and 
the  impotent  ones  would  have  to  stay  entirely 
behind,  if  it  rushed  away  from  them. 

It  is  very  different  with  a  light,  comfort- 
able, safe  vehicle.  Without  the  use  of  many 
horses,  it  rushes  with  lightning  rapidity  past 
the  creeping  cart.  But  both,  cart  and  car- 
riage driver,  would  be  very  silly,  if  they 
despised  one  another,  or  made  mutual  re- 
criminations. Both  paces  have  their  purposes 
and  are  adapted  to  circumstances.  Both 
would  act  unnaturally,  if  they  did  differ- 
ently. There  may  occur  reasons  why  both 
would  change   their  pace,   but  these   rarely 


How  Came  my  Son  to  be  Precocious    71 

happen.  The  driver  of  the  dray  will  travel 
more  rapidly  down  a  gentle  incline,  and  his 
fellow-travelers  will  be  able  to  keep  up  with 
him.  In  the  deep  sand,  in  the  swamp,  or 
among  many  rocks,  the  carriage  will  travel 
more  slowly.  All  that  is  as  it  should  be,  and 
only  a  fool  would  want  it  to  be  otherwise. 

Karl  learned  many  things  in  the  arms  of 
his  mother  and  in  my  own,  such  as  one  rarely 
thinks  of  imparting  to  children.  He  learned 
to  know  and  name  all  the  objects  in  the 
different  rooms.  The  rooms  themselves,  the 
staircase,  the  yard,  the  garden,  the  stable, 
the  well,  the  barn, — everything,  from  the 
greatest  to  the  smallest,  was  frequently  shown  9^^/^ 
and  clearly  and  plainly  named  to  him,  and  ^^ 
he  was  encouraged  to  name  the  objects  as__ 
plainly  as  possible.  Whenever  he  spoke  cor- 
rectly,  he  was  fondled  and  praised.  When, 
however,  he  failed,  we  said  in  a  decidedly 
cooler  manner,  "Mother  (or  Father),  Karl 
cannot  yet  pronounce  this  or  that  wordl" 

Consequently  he  took  great  pains  to  know 
and  correctly  name  all  objects.  Before  long 
he  pronounced  all  words,  as  we  wanted  him 
to  do.  There  was  no  danger  of  stammering 
or  stuttering,  because  he  had  to  speak  very 


/;i.<t 


72         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

slowly  and  was  never  intimidated.  He 
thought  and  spoke  freely,  but  he  was  obliged 
to  think  and  to  speak  only  after  due  con- 
sideration. 

We  did  not  tolerate  that  unwisdom  of 
many  parents  and  nurses,  who  begin  by 
teaching  the  child  a  language,  which  they 
call  baby  talk,  but  which  in  reality  should 
be  called  gibberish.  No  one  was  allowed 
to  say  "moo"  instead  of  "cow,"  "bah"  in- 
stead of  "sheep,"  "meow"  instead  of  "cat," 
"bow-wow"  instead  of  "dog,"  nor  "moo-cow, 
bah-sheep,  meow-cat,  bowwow-dog,"  but 
only  "cow,  sheep,  cat,  dog."  The  diminu- 
tives were  permitted  only  in  the  case  of  young 
and  small  animals  of  the  same  species.  If 
the  word  "doggy"  was  used,  the  reference 
was  plainly  to  a  young  or  very  small  dog. 
In  the  first  case  we  intentionally  varied  it 
with  the  appellation  "a  very  young  dog," 
and  remarked  that  that  would  be  more  cor- 
rect. If  it  was  small,  but  not  exactly  pretty, 
nor  very  young,  we  preferred  to  use  the 
words  "small  dog"  in  place  of  "doggy,"  and 
directed  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
diminutive  generally  included  the  idea  of 
prettiness  and  attractiveness  on  the  part  of 


How  Came  my  Son  to  be  Precocious    73 

the  one  so  called,  and  of  fondling  on  the  part 
of  the  one  calling  it. 

"When  you  have  been  naughty,  that  is, 
when  you  did  not  say  or  do  what  you  should," 
we  would  say  to  him,  "you  will  hardly  hear 
us  call  you  Karlchen.  No,  you  are  sure  to 
be  called  Karl!    Is  it  not  so?" 

We  carefully  observed  this  distinction,  like 
many  others  of  the  kind,  and  in  his  company 
we  always  spoke  pure  German,  in  other 
words,  book  German,  in  very  simple  and 
comprehensible,  but  none  the  less  choicie  ex- 
pressions,  and  always  loudly,  distinctly,  ani 
in  an  appropriately  slow  manner.  We  never 
allowed  ourselves  to  make  an  improper  use 
of  intonation.  We  spoke  as  correctly,  in 
every  sense  of  the  word,  as  we  could.  Ob- 
scure, and  intricate  sentences  and  expressions, 
such  as  gave  no  distinct  meaning,  were  scru- 
pulously avoided. 

He  had  never  heard,  nor  spoken,  a  con- 
fused childish  babble,  consequently  there  was 
no  need  for  him  to  unlearn  it  and  acquire 
a  correct  speech. 

The  only  thing  of  the  kind  which  I  toler- 
ated for  a  time  was  speaking  in  the  third 
person,  instead  of  using  the  abstract  I,  thou, 


74         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

he,  etl^.,  because  it  lies  deeply  in  the  nature 
of  the  uneducated  man,  consequently  also  of 
the  child,  not  to  be  able  easily  to  rise  above 
it.  This,  however,  took  place  only  so  long 
as  it  w^as  unavoidable,  whenever  we  wanted 
to  be  absolutely  clear  to  him.  Very  soon  we 
began  to  make  the  change,  by  using  now  and 
then  the  words  "I,  thou,  he,  she,"  for  "father, 
mother,  Karl,"  thus  explaining  one  by  the 
other,  and  preparing  and  facilitating  the  use 
of  what  was  more  correct.  A  little  later,  we 
jokingly,  but  with  no  bitterness  whatsoever, 
would  add,  "If  you  were  more  intelligent, 
I  should  have  said  'thou'  (or  'I')." 

Such  a  friendly  jest,  which  refers  to  igno- 
rance, want  of  intelligence,  etc.,  urges  the 
child  on  to  make  an  effort  and  learn  what  he 
does  not  yet  know. 

In  this  manner  Karl  early  learned  to  know 
and  name  correctly  everything  surrounding 
him,  and  what  he  could  pronounce  he  always 
spoke  in  pure  German,  as  though  he  had 
read  it  in  a  well-written  book  especially  pre- 
pared for  children.  Indeed,  he  could  not  do 
otherwise,  since  he  had  never  heaFd  any  bad 
German  frorn  us.  He  naturally  enunciated 
his  words  so  correctly  and  audibly  that  the 


How  Came  my  Son  to  be  Precocious    75 


# 


little  orator  frequently  evoked  our  s^^^  and 
strangers'  admiration. 

It  is  clear  that  the  correct  acquisition  of 
his  mother-tongue  makes,  the  child  intelligent 
at  an  early  time,  for  it  puts  his  attention  and 
his  several  mental  powers  continuously  in 
action.  He  is  obliged  always  to  search,  dis- 
tinguish, compare,  prefer,  reject,  choose,  in 
short,  he  must  work,  that  is,  think.  If  Jie 
has  proceeded  correctly  in  this,  he  is  pralsfid. 
If  he  has  made  a  mistake^  he  is  jestingly 
reproved,  or  is  given  a  helpful  hint^  He 
then  once  more  goes  through  his  mental  proc- 
esses, is  happier,  and  rejoices  at  his  struggle 
and  victory,  as  also  at  the  paternal  or  ma- 
ternal approval. 

Besides,  how  useful  it  is  for  memory  I  If 
the  above-mentioned  activities  are  to  take 
place,  there  is  need  of  a  supply  of  words, 
hence  memory  must  be  active,  to  grasp  and 
keep  them.  Let  us  assume  that  of  the  enor- 
mous treasure  of  the  German  language  only 
thirty  thousand  words  pass  into  the  child's 
mind  in  his  first  five  or  six  years,  and  this 
may  be  easily  accomplished  in  the  case  of 
an  exceptionally  well-brought-up  child.  See 
the  chance  memory  has  in  that  case  to  be 


76         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

— gn 

exerSP*  and  strengthened!  And  how  the 
child  is  at  the  same  time  urged  on,  if  he 
has  been  accustomed  to  it  and  feels  the  in- 
clination to  speak  with  reflection  and  care! 
With  but  very  little  aid  the  child  sketches 
for  himself  a  kind  of  grammar  and,  accord- 
ing to  his  ability,  likes  to  pick  out  the  vari- 
ous changes  of  nouns  and  verbs.  It  is  only 
then  that  he  invites  the  beneficent  aid  of  real 
grammar,  be  it  from  the  mouth  of  his  father, 
or  in  a  printed  book,  if  he  has  become  accus- 
tomed to  reading. 

All  this  has  been  vaguely  felt  before,  hence 
instruction  began  with  the  ancient  languages. 
Unfortunately  it  was  felt  only  vaguely,  other- 
wise the  inexcusable  thing  would  not  have 
happened  of  neglecting  the  mother  tongue 
and  intimidating  the  child's  mind  by  the  dry 
dead  languages,  and  thus  choking  his  intel- 
lect in  the  germ. 

This  early  occupation  with  the  mother 
tongue  introduced  Karl  every  day  more  and 
more  into  its  inner  depths,  and  prepared  him 
for  learning  the  foreign  languages  with  great 
facility. 

What  under  other  conditions  would  have 
disgusted   or   frightened   him   in   these   Ian- 


How  Came  my  Son  to  be  Precocious    yj 

guages  was  now,  indeed,  new,  but  not  entirely 
strange  to  him.  He  had  learned  something 
like  it  in  his  mother  tongue,  and  had  made 
it  his  own.  All  he  had  to  do  was  to  modify 
something,  and  the  strange  language  was 
clear  to  him.  As  he  had  accustomed  himself 
to  do  mental  work,  such  occupation  gave  him 
pleasure,  for  he  knew  full  well  that  every 
struggle  brought  with  it  a  victory,  and  that 
victory  was  enjoyable. 

The  natural  consequence  of  all  that  was 
that  he,  without  great  effort,  read  in  the  orig- 
inal Homer,  Plutarch,  Virgil,  Cicero,  Ossian, 
Fenelon,  Florian,  Metastasio,  and  Schiller, 
and  that,  too,  with  sincere  pleasure,  often 
with  true  enthusiasm,  when  he  was  but  eight 
years  old.  Therefore  the  great  linguist 
Heyne  of  Goettingen  sixteen  months  later 
said  of  him  in  writing  that  he  was  possessed 
of  a  sagacity,  common  only  to  able  minds, 
of  guessing  correctly  what  he  did  not  know. 
Heyne,  no  doubt,  was  right,  for  he  had  ex- 
amined him  very  carefully  among  thousands 
whom  he  had  examined  before,  and  I  would 
have  said  that  my  method  of  education  was 
a  failure,  if  it  had  not  been  thus.  But  here 
are  Heyne's  own  words  to  Wieland : 


78         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

GOETTINGEN,  July  25,  1810. 

Revered  Veteran: 

Pastor  Dr.  Witte  spoke  to  me  with  grateful  praise  of 
your  good  wishes  and  plans  for  his  son's  further  edu- 
cation. 

Although  I  am  not  a  friend  of  precocious  maturity, 
and  respect  the  common  laws  of  Nature,  I  also  recog- 
nize that  Nature  herself  makes  exceptions,  and  that  it 
becomes  our  duty  to  take  her  hints  and  further  the  early 
development  of  a  more  capable  mind.  In  that  respect 
and  in  order  more  closely  to  study  the  boy's  aptitudes 
and  natural  ability,  with  a  view  to  a  possible  wider  de- 
velopment, for  the  boy's  own  sake  and  advantage,  I  al- 
lowed myself  to  be  persuaded  to  observe  him  nearer  at 
hand,  and  by  an  examination  to  form  my  own  judgment, 
independently  from  other  people's  judgments  and  from 
admirers;  not  merely  for  the  purpose  of  observing  him 
as  a  product  of  Nature,  fit  for  experiments,  but  also 
in  order  to  determine  whether  it  would  be  possible  to 
make  of  him,  through  an  education  adapted  to  his  nat- 
ural aptitudes,  a  happy,  humanly  and  civilly  useful  mem- 
ber of  society, — which,  indeed,  might  not  be  an  easy  task. 

I  found  the  boy  hale  and  hearty  in  body  and  mind, 
more  than  I  had  expected.  I  tried  him  with  Homer 
and  Virgil,  and  I  found  that  he  possessed  sufficient  ver- 
bal and  material  information  to  translate  readily  and 
get  the  sense, — a  natural  ability,  generally  possessed  by 
capable  minds,  without  a  more  exact  grammatical  or 
logical  knowledge,  to  guess  the  context  correctly.  The 
most  remarkable  thing  to  me  was  that  he  read  sensibly, 
with  feeling  and  effect.  Otherwise  I  found  in  him  no 
other  preponderating  mental  power,  no  striking  talent: 
memory,  imagination,  intelligence  were  at  about  a  bal- 
ance.    In  other  things,  such  as  were  not  drilled  in  by 


How  Came  my  Son  to  be  Precocious    79 

instruction,  I  found  him  to  be  a  happy,  hale  boy,  not 
even  averse  to  mischief,  which  was  a  consolation  to  me. 
As  to  his  predilection  for  epic  poets  and  earnest,  soul- 
stirring  poems  and  writings,  his  previous  education  may 
account  for  that, — a  notable  testimony  to  his  father's  way 
of  bringing  him  up. 

We  shall  hardly  live  long  enough  to  see  the  final  re- 
sults of  the  method  employed,  but  I  heartily  hope,  like 
yourself,  that  the  State,  as  we  are  wont  to  say,  will 
take  advantage  of  the  uncommon  favor  of  Nature,  and 
that  the  boy  may  some  day  attain  a  commensurate  de- 
gree of  happiness.  To  judge  from  appearances,  his  vo- 
cation, usefulness,  and  good  fortune  will  lie  in  the  field 
of  learning,  perhaps  more  especially  in  that  of  history. 

Pardon  me,  revered  friend,  for  having  expatiated  at 
greater  length  than  I  had  intended  to.  I  was  therein 
misled  by  the  pleasure  of  conversing  with  you  once 
more. 

Devotedly  yours, 

Heyne. 

When  still  a  small  child,  of  four  or  five 
years,  Karl  derived  an  incredible  amount  of 
profit  from  his  thorough  knowledge  of  his 
mother  tongue.  He  had  not  acquired  it  from 
dead  books,  in  the  manner  in  which  Greek 
and  Latin  are  usually  funneled  into  children, 
and,  alas,  in  the  opinion  of  many  men  still 
living,  must  be  funneled  in,  or  rather  beaten 
in. 

Sixteen  hours  of  Latin  a  week  for  a  thir- 


8o  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

teen-year-old  boy!  That  is  bad,  and  I  un- 
fortunately am  speaking  of  the  year  1818  and 
of  a  famous  school  at  Berlin. 

Karl  learned  his  pure  German  rather  in 
life,  in  the  house,  in  the  garden,  in  the 
meadow,  field,  and  forest,  in  society,  on  long 
and  short  journeys,  in  short,  under  all  the  va- 
rious conditions  which  I  in  my  situation  was 
able  to  create  for  him.  In  his  first  year  we 
began  to  take  him  with  us  wherever  we  went, 
and,  as  far  as  possible,  he  had  everything  ex- 
plained to  him,  especially  if  he  seemed  to  be 
attracted  by  anything. 

Thus  he  had  in  the  first  two  years  of  his 
life  accompanied  us  to  Merseburg,  Halle, 
Leipsic,  Weissenfels,  Naumburg,  Dessau, 
Woerlitz,  Wittenberg,  etc.,  and  in  all  these 
places  he  learned  a  mass  of  things  which  he 
would  never  have  seen  at  home. 

In  his  third  and  fourth  years  he  still  more 
frequently  visited  those  places,  received  bet- 
ter impressions  of  what  he  had  seen  and  heard 
there,  grasped  it  more  clearly,  and  expanded 
his  circle  of  knowledge.  He  naturally  saw 
more  important  and  more  interesting  things, 
for  in  his  third  year  he  passed  eight  weeks 
in  Leipsic,  and  in  his  fourth  and  fifth  he  went 


How  Came  my  Son  to  be  Precocious    8i 

with  me  to  Magdeburg,  Halberstadt,  Salz- 
wedel,  Stendal,  the  Mannsfeld  territory,  a 
part  of  the  Harz  Mountains,  etc.  He  was 
introduced  into  every  kind  of  society  and  to 
everything  memorable.  He,  consequently, 
was  as  well  acquainted  with  the  concert, 
drama,  and  opera,  as  with  watermills  and 
windmills,  with  lions,  ostriches,  and  elephants, 
as  with  moles  and  bats,  with  salt  mines  as  with 
steam  engines,  with  the  village  market  as  with 
the  Leipsic  Fair,  with  excavations  as  with 
mines,  with  brilliant  society  as  with  a  poor 
day-laborer's  cabin,  with  the  dancing-floor  as 
with  the  death-bed. 

None  of  these  things  he  knew  by  merely 
staring  at  them,  as  children  generally  know 
them,  but  thoroughly,  often  more  thoroughly 
than  adults  know  them,  for  his  mother  and  I 
every  time  discussed  the  matters  with  him,  or, 
purposely,  with  each  other  in  his  presence. 
He  was  frequently  asked  whether  he  had 
taken  good  notice  of  this  or  that,  and  how  he 
had  liked  it.  He  soon  became  accustomed  to 
repeating  and  discussing  what  he  had  seen 
and  heard,  and  he  himself  addressed  us,  in- 
quired, reported,  retorted,  etc. 

If  one  considers  that  in  his  fifth  year  he 


82  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

traveled  with  me  to  Potsdam  and  Berlin, 
through  Priegnitz  and  by  many  roads 
through  Mecklenburg  as  far  as  Rostock, 
Warnemuende,  and  Dobberan,  that  he  went 
to  sea  in  still  weather  and  in  moderate  storms, 
that  he  observed  commerce  and  navigation, 
then  proceeded  over  Ludwigslust  to  the  Alt- 
mark,  and  here  for  weeks  lived  in  the  country, 
in  all  kinds  of  social  circles  and  districts, 
everywhere  considered  and  treated  as  a  be- 
loved child  of  their  own,  that  people  took  real 
delight  in  the  little  questioner  and  babbler, 
and  readily  gave  him  every  desired  informa- 
tion,— one  will  easily  understand  that  he  thus 
laid  by  a  treasure  of  linguistic  and  material 
information,  such  as  but  few  older  persons 
possess. 

I  must  lay  special  stress  on  this  that  he 
knew  nothing  wrongly,  nothing  in  a  preju- 
diced way,  in  so  far  as  we,  his  parents,  knew 
the  objects  correctly.  If  we  lacked  the  pre- 
cise information,  we  had  ourselves  and  Karl 
instructed  by  the  best-trained  and  best  in- 
structed men. 

In  his  sixth  year  I  passed  with  him  six 
weeks  in  Dresden,  thoroughly  acquainted  him 
with  the  beautiful  nature  of  the  place  and  of 


How  Came  my  Son  to  be  Precocious    83 

its  surroundings,  especially  with  its  many  art 
treasures,  and,  by  constant  observation  and 
repeated  discussions  about  them,  which  we 
had  then  and  later,  improved  his  taste.  While 
in  Leipsic,  Potsdam,  and  Berlin,  or  wherever 
anything  beautiful  was  to  be  seen,  I  had 
begun  to  guard  him  against  the  childish  de- 
light in  bright-colored  pictures,  the  drawing 
of  which  was  wrong.  He  was  particularly 
cautioned  against  it  during  our  visits  to  the 
Dresden  Art  Gallery,  particularly  to  the 
inner  Italian  Hall,  among  the  antiques  and 
Mengs'  casts.  Since  then  I  have  never  no- 
ticed in  him  any  silly  judgments  about  mat- 
ters of  art,  such  as  one  too  frequently  hears, 
even  from  grown  children! 

As  soon  as  the  weather  became  settled,  dur- 
ing our  stay  in  Dresden,  we  visited  the 
Plauischer  Grund,  Tharand,  and  the  whole 
Saxon  Switzerland.  Since  I  had  previously 
and  more  than  once  seen  everything  beautiful 
there,  with  a  book  in  my  hand  and  a  guide 
at  my  side,  nothing  was  then  overlooked  or 
carelessly  inspected.  What  variety  these 
heavenly  regions  offer  to  the  adult,  and  still 
more  to  a  child  of  six  years!  The  lovely  sur- 
roundings  of    Schandau    and    Lohmen,    the 


84  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

Liebethaler  and  the  Ottowalder  Grund,  the 
Kuhstall  and  the  Prebischthor,  the  Bastion, 
the  basaltic  columns  at  Stolpe,  and  the  high 
Winterberg,  finally  the  Koenigstein,  Lilien- 
stein,  Sonnenstein,  and  Pillnitz. 

All  the  above  objects,  and  many  more,  were 
correctly  named  to  Karl,  and  we  spoke,  read, 
and  passed  opinions  concerning  them.  Our 
guides,  friends,  and  acquaintances  shared 
their  sentiments  with  him  and  with  me.  He 
told  it  all  to  his  mother  and  his  young  and 
old  friends  in  Merseburg,  Halle,  and  Leipsic, 
and  wrote  about  it  to  distant  acquaintances. 
He  thus  had  it  entirely  in  his  power  to  ex- 
press himself  intelligently  and  clearly  about 
it. 

The  useful  result  of  this  is  much  greater 
than  one  may  think,  for  the  more  objects  a 
man  knows  correctly,  with  their  names  and 
properties,  and  the  better  he  can  impart  that 
knowledge  to  others,  the  greater  is  the  mental 
supply  which  he  has  laid  in  and  over  which 
he  has  command,  and  the  more  frequently  he 
finds  himself  induced  "to  seek,  compare,  dis- 
tinguish, prefer,  reject,  or  choose — that  is,  to 
work,  to  think;"  and  the  more  a  man  thinks, 
the  more  he  learns  to  think.  Consequently 
there  is  an  immeasurable  gain,  if  we  can  get 


How  Came  my  Son  to  be  Precocious    85 

the  children  first  to  think  before  they  want  to 
do  or  say  something. 

A  child  that  is  accustomed  to  think  learns 
every  moment  more  and  more.  It  may  be 
that  the  particular  subject  is  too  difficult  for 
him  at  the  time  being,  but  having  become 
used  to  wanting  to  understand  it  (I  would  say 
of  the  properly  educated  child  "to  being  ob- 
liged to  understand  it"),  he  at  least  tries  to 
retain  what  he  cannot  understand,  and,  with- 
out knowing  it  himself,  quietly  works  at  it, 
in  order  to  make  clear  to  himself  what  so  far 
has  been  obscure  to  him.  He  inquires,  in- 
vestigates, listens  to  something  that  bears  a  re- 
lation to  it.  He  may  be  reading  about  an 
entirely  different  matter,  but  he  finds  some 
hint,  some  elucidation,  which  seems  to  him 
to  refer  to  that  which  he  did  not  understand 
before.  Now  all  his  mental  powers  are  put 
into  new  activity.  He  reads  on  industriously, 
quizzes  his  parents,  teachers,  friends,  play- 
mates,— in  short,  he  does  not  rest  until,  plow- 
ing his  way  through  the  unsteady  waves  of 
ignorance,  he  arrives  at  the  firm,  blossoming 
shore  of  clear  insight. 

Significant  also  is  the  observation  that  a 
child  that  has  at  an  early  time  become  ac- 


86         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

quainted  with  many  things,  has  become  famil- 
iar with  their  names  and  properties,  and  has 
with  ease  and  correctness  expressed  himself 
about  them,  will  very  attentively  listen  to  the 
conversation  of  adults.  He  will  not  find  it 
tiresome,  will  not  yawn  during  it,  will  not 
behave  with  stupid,  childish  attention,  that 
is,  with  thoughtlessness.  As  he  understands 
the  greater  part  of  it,  he  will  take  sincere 
interest  in  it.  If  there  is  something  that  he 
does  not  understand,  his  interest  will  thereby 
be  increased,  for  what  is  said  is  new  to  him, 
he  wants  to  and  must  understand  it,  and  his 
habitual  activity  will  not  rest,  until  this  knot, 
too,  has  been  untied. 

What  an  immeasurable  amount  a  child  will 
learn  in  six,  eight,  or  ten  years,  that  is,  in 
3,650  days,  in  36,500  hours,  reckoning  the  day 
at  ten  hours,  if  every  conversation  with  him 
or  in  his  presence  teaches  him  something! 

It  is  on  this  that  my  firm  conviction  is  based 
that  even  a  mediocre  child  may  be  approxi- 
mated to  a  higher  being,  if  one  understands 
how  to  do  it,  and  is  able  and  willing  to  try  it. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

Did  I  Pretend  to  have  the  Necessary 

Skill  for  Making  a  Scholar 

OF  MY  Son? 

Oh,  no!  I  had,  indeed,  in  schools  and  uni- 
versities done  as  well  as  the  best  around  me, 
and  as  a  graduate  I  had  constantly  and  most 
carefully  attended  to  my  higher  education,  as 
is  attested  by  the  various  learned  examina- 
tions which  I  passed  before  Chaplain  Kletzke, 
in  the  Consistory  at  Magdeburg,  and  in  the 
Higher  Consistory  at  Berlin.  Nor  had  I 
ceased  instructing  others,  consequently  I  had 
added  to  my  knowledge.  I  had,  besides,  been, 
with  a  kindness  which  put  me  to  shame,  of- 
fered teaching  positions  in  the  institutions  of 
the  then  greatest  educators  of  Germany,  Ge- 
dike,  Salzmann,  Pfeffel,  Karoline  Rudolphi, 
etc.  Yet  I  considered  it  unthinkable  for  a 
single  person,  with  a  very  moderate  income, 
living  in  the  country,  without  possessing  any 
means  for  instruction  or  being  able  to  provide 
them  promptly,  to  carry  the  education  of  a 

87 


88  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

rapidly  and  well-progressing  child  any  far- 
ther than  to  his  eighth  or  tenth  year — that 
is,  as  I  then  thought,  until  he  would  be  able 
to  attend  the  lowest  of  the  upper  divisions 
of  a  higher  institution  of  learning. 

I,  therefore,  planned,  before  and  after 
Karl's  birth,  for  men  like  Gedike  and  Schewe 
to  take  active  part  in  his  upbringing,  as  soon 
as  I  should  no  longer  be  able  to  give  him  the 
proper  instruction.  In  their  institutions  there 
were  ten  or  twelve  teachers,  and  in  the  Grsy 
Cloister  at  Berlin  there  were  possibly  even 
more.  With  the  funds  at  their  disposal  they 
could  choose  the  ablest  candidates,  and  ap- 
point them  to  such  branches  of  instruction  as 
they  felt  them  to  be  most  fitted  for.  I  con- 
sidered all  that,  and  so  I  was  far  from  imag- 
ining that  I  should  be  able  to  take  their  place. 

Just  as  during  the  education  of  my  son 
there  showed  themselves  a  few  evil  men  who 
tried  to  crush  what  I  and  my  friends  were 
planting,  so  there  will  be  found  some  even 
now  who  will  say,  "That  is  nothing  but  as- 
sumed modesty  I  He  certainly  had  the  confi- 
dence that  he  would  be  able  to  accomplish 
what  he  wanted  to  accomplish,  and,  possibly, 
even  more." 


The  Skill  for  Making  a  Scholar      89 

I  must  expect  something  like  that,  to  judge 
from  the  malicious,  secret  doings  of  certain 
gentlemen  who  in  time  will  be  found  out 
and  treated  with  contempt,  for  those  who  are 
capable  of  doing  something  bad  to  a  distinctly 
good  cause  are  obliged  to  defend  or,  at  least, 
mantle  their  meanness.  The  method  which 
these  gentlemen  employed  was,  with  the  aid 
of  their  henchmen,  good  friends,  clients,  and 
disciples,  to  circulate  a  mass  of  calumnies, 
now  orally  in  the  town,  now  by  letters  to  the 
outside  world,  now  by  articles  and  reviews 
in  periodicals  of  every  description. 

All  that  was  done  with  great  slyness,  doing 
my  son  and  me  harm,  but  the  tricksters  have 
not  attained  their  ends,  for  my  son  is  still  re- 
spected and  loved. 

The  good  cause  is  well  established  and, 
with  God's  aid,  will  become  yet  better  estab- 
lished. Should  my  son  or  I  soon  pass  into  a 
better  world,  the  proof  will  have  been  given, 
none  the  less,  that  man's  education  can,  with- 
out doing  him  injury,  proceed  much  more 
rapidly  than  has  heretofore  been  supposed. 

I  take  up  the  expected  objection  that  I  had 
the  confidence  of  accomplishing  what  I  have 
accomplished,  and  I  reply,  "No  I"    My  prep- 


90  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

arations  at  the  child's  birth  show  that  I  am 
telling  the  truth.  My  later  behavior  proves 
it  still  more  clearly. 

As  soon  as  my  son  had  made  some  progress 
in  Latin  and  was  to  begin  Greek,  I  looked 
about  for  a  teacher  to  help  me,  because  I  felt 
that  I  could  not  do  what  should  be  done  in 
accordance  with  my  ideal. 

In  Halle,  in  Leipsic,  in  Magdeburg,  in 
Berlin,  everywhere  I  tried,  at  the  sacrifice  of 
what  for  me  was  a  very  great  yearly  salary 
and  excellent  upkeep,  to  get  the  kind  of  man 
I  wanted  to  have,  but  fate  was  against  me. 
What  I  wanted  only  a  very  few  could  do,  and 
these  few  had  more  advantageous  situations 
or  such  as  offered  them  better  prospects  for 
the  future. 

I  wanted  a  man  who  could  read  Greek  as 
easily  and  with  as  much  pleasure  as  I  could 
read  German,  Latin,  Italian,  or  French; 
who,  at  the  same  time,  would  be  such  a  master 
of  his  mother-tongue  as  to  be  able  with  little 
exertion  to  render  every  Greek  expression 
into  German;  who  with  just  as  little  exertion 
could  correctly  translate  back  into  Greek  and 
would  know  all  the  grammatical  forms,  even 
for  all  the  dialects,  and  could  deduce  them 


The  Skill  for  Making  a  Scholar      91 

• 

from  one  another, — in  short,  a  man  who,  in 
company  with  the  boy,  could  sketch  a  short 
Greek  grammar.  It  was  still  more  important 
for  me  that  he  should  be  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  whole  of  Greek  literature 
and  with  the  people  to  whom  it  belonged, 
with  Greece,  Magna  Graecia,  Asia  Minor,  the 
islands,  with  all  the  countries  at  the  different 
periods  of  Greek  culture.  At  the  same  time 
he  should  know  their  constitutions,  govern- 
ments, customs,  habits,  usages,  entertainments, 
life  in  peace  and  in  war,  their  education, 
morals,  religion,  law,  politics,  commerce, 
arts  and  sciences.  I  should  have  been  still 
more  pleased  if  he  had  been  as  well  ac- 
quainted with  Rome  and  with  everything  that 
goes  with  it. 

I  thought  I  had  found  such  a  man  in  my 
former  schoolmate,  Dr.  B.,  and  through  our 
common  friend  Glaubitz  I  made  proposals 
to  him  which  meant  great  monetary  sacrifices 
for  me.  But,  as  he  told  us,  he  had  already  com- 
mitted himself  to  a  situation  which  he  was 
obliged  to  keep  as  an  honest  man,  and  which 
from  considerations  of  advantage,  he  did  not 
wish  to  give  up. 

Many  others  had  been  recommended  to  me, 


92         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

before  and  after  him,  but  most  of  them,  upon 
closer  acquaintance,  appeared  useless  for  my 
purpose;  indeed,  most  did  not  possess  as  much 
knowledge  of  the  two  languages  as  I  had. 
Still  less  were  they  capable  of  fulfilling  the 
higher  demands. 

I  shall  relate  one  case,  for  the  rest  are  very 
much  alike. 

A  graduate  student  from  our  part  of  the 
country  returned  with  much  acclaim  from  the 
university.  He  himself,  his  parents,  and  his 
relatives  assured  all  that  he  had  been  the  fa- 
vorite student  of  one  of  our  greatest  philolo- 
gists. He  was  proposed  to  me  with  the  as- 
surance that  I  should  be  very  fortunate  if  he 
decided  to  become  my  assistant. 

His  boastful  statements,  of  which  I  had 
heard,  made  me  distrustful.  I,  therefore,  re- 
plied that  I  was  just  then  undecided  as  to 
what  I  was  going  to  do,*but  that  I  should  be 
very  happy  if  Mr.  W. — that  was  his  name — 
would  for  a  week  leave  his  parents,  in  order 
to  stay  with  me,  and  would  daily  instruct  my 
son  for  half  an  hour  in  Greek  according  to 
my  method. 

I  purposely  let  him  the  first  day  watch  how 
I  acted  during  the  instruction,  after  I  had 


The  Skill  for  Making  a  Scholar      93 

expounded  my  ideas  to  him.  The  next  morn- 
ing his  teaching  began.  I  had  asked  him  to 
begin  with  one  of  the  easy  readers,  which  I 
had  procured;  but  he  entered  the  room  with 
the  Iliad  in  his  hand,  and  forthwith  pro- 
ceeded to  deliver  himself  of  a  very  scholarly 
introduction  which  I  was  compelled  to  be- 
lieve he  had  merely  learned  by  heart.  In 
this  supposition  I  was  strengthened  by  the 
blunders  and  startling  lacunae  in  the  context. 

Karl  would  now  and  then  utter  a  sigh,  and 
looked  at  him  as  at  some  strange  animal, 
which  one  was  more  afraid  of  than  glad  to  see. 
Occasionally  the  boy  would  open  his  mouth, 
as  if  to  say,  "I  do  not  understand  a  word  of 
it  all!"  but  that  was  quite  in  vain,  for  the  tor- 
rent of  Mr.  W.'s  eloquence  immediately 
closed  it  again. 

The  boy  stood  it  all  patiently,  and  so  did  I. 

When  the  half  'hour  was  over,  but  the 
learned  introduction  had  not  yet  come  to  an 
end,  I  asked  him  to  close  it  for  the  day,  and 
to  take  up  five  minutes  in  translation.  This  I 
would  prefer  to  be  made  from  the  reader,  or, 
if  Mr.  W.  so  chose  it,  from  the  Iliad. 

Mr.  W.  began  to  translate  from  the  Iliad. 
He  scanned  every  verse  with  great  pathos, 


94         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

and  poured  forth  a  translation  In  such  an  im- 
pure, now  and  then  execrable,  German  that 
I  was  simply  horrified.  My  poor  little  son 
was  overcome  with  terror,  for  he  thought, 
from  his  previous  experience,  that  I  would 
demand  of  him  readily  to  repeat  what  he  had 
heard. 

I,  therefore,  at  once  freed  him  from  his 
fear,  by  saying,  with  a  merry  jest,  "My  dear 
boy,  you  cannot  repeat  that,  for  it  is  as  yet  too 
learned  for  you!  For  you  to  be  able  to  repeat 
it  well,  you  have  to  get  it  translated  in  com- 
pany with  the  teacher.  That  could  not  be 
done  here,  because  Mr.  W.  knows  his  Homer 
too  well,  and  so  does  not  have  to  look  up  in 
the  dictionary  and  grammar,  as  I  do  with 
you.  It  would  be  bothersome  for  him,  but  I 
do  it  gladly  out  of  love  for  you,  as  you  know." 

That  quieted  Karl  and  did  not  hurt  Mr.  W. 
When  we  were  left  alone,  I  asked  him  to 
come  down  from  his  high  pitch,  because 
otherwise  Karl  would  derive  no  profit  from 
his  instruction.  But  he  asserted  that  that  was 
the  proper  way  to  teach,  and  that  he  had  faith- 
fully copied  his  great  teacher. 

"Excuse  me,"  I  replied,  "that  is  so  much 
the  worse,  for  I  am  not  at  all  sure  that  this 


The  Skill  for  Making  a  Scholar      95 

way  is  proper  for  youths,  and  I  certainly  am 
convinced  that  it  is  quite  useless  for  a  child 
of  seven  years," 

He  insisted  he  was  right,  and  he  was  my 
guest,  so  I  suffered  patiently  and  merely  asked 
him  to  consider  my  son's  weakness  and  my 
sincere  wish,  and  to  instruct  Karl  the  next 
day  from  one  of  the  Greek  readers  at  hand. 
At  last  he  unwillingly  promised  to  do  so. 
None  the  less  the  next  day  he  terrified  Karl 
and  me  by  his  Homer. 

Having  listened  to  him  in  suffering  for 
fifteen  minutes,  I  interrupted  him  very  earn- 
estly : 

"Karl,"  said  I,  "do  you  understand  what 
Mr.  W.  lectures  to  you?  That  is,  do  you 
understand  it  sufficiently  well  to  be  able  to 
recite  it  to  me?" 

The  poor  boy,  who  had  never  been  in  such 
a  painful  situation  before,  said,  with  a  deep 
sigh: 

"No,  dear  father,  I  cannot  do  that!  Much 
of  it  I  do  not  understand,  and  the  rest  I  have 
not  listened  to." 

"Well,"  I  replied,  "then  I  ask  you  most 
earnestly,  Mr.  W.,  to  put  the  Iliad  aside  and 
to  take  this  reader.     I  thank  you  very  much 


96         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

for  your  good  will,  but  Karl,  as  you  see,  is 
still  too  far  behind  to  be  able  to  grasp  Ho- 
mer. I  am  sure  you  wish  to  be  useful  to  him 
and  obliging  to  me." 

After  many  objections  and  assurances  that 
it  would  all  come  out  well  in  the  end,  that 
Karl  would  every  day  understand  him  better, 
etc.,  he  finally  made  up  his  mind  to  do  what 
he  could  not  avoid,  that  is,  to  translate  the  first 
little  story  in  the  reader  with  Karl. 

The  great,  superior  learning  at  once  came 
to  an  end.  There  occurred  words  and  forms 
which  embarrassed  him,  and  as  he  was  too 
vain  to  look  them  up,  he  was  satisfied  to  guess 
at  them  and  to  translate  the  whole  with  ap- 
proximate correctness  and — in  bad  German. 

All  that  was  so  contrary  to  my  intentions 
that  I  repeatedly  requested  him  to  go  slowly 
and  to  render  word  for  word  exhaustively. 
Karl,  too,  asked  him  to  do  so,  but  in  vain.  I, 
therefore,  put  an  end  to  the  whole  matter  by 
showing  him  that  Karl  had  hardly  understood 
a  thing  in  the  story  which  he  had  been  read- 
ing to  him.  I  translated  the  next  story  to 
him  in  my  own  way,  and  Karl  was  aglow 
with  joy  and  could  hardly  wait  to  translate 
the  story  to  us.    When  he  had  to  do  that,  he 


The  Skill  for  Making  a  Scholar      97 

had  complete  command  of  it,  and,  in  spite  of 
all  objections  and  quizzing  questions  on  my 
part,  he  rendered  it  almost  the  way  I  had 
translated  it  to  him  the  first  time. 

Anybody  but  a  Moor  would  have  been 
washed  white  by  such  an  experience,  but  Mr. 
W.  was  too  pufifed  up  to  be  able  to  doubt  his 
knowledge  or  power  of  teaching.  I  no  longer 
troubled  him  with  the  instruction,  and  in  a 
few  days  he  left  us  altogether. 

I  have  unfortunately  had  several  such  ex- 
periences and  have  seen  and  heard  of  many 
more.  How  a  poor  child  is  to  be  pitied  that 
falls  into  the  hands  of  such  a  man  I 

He  not  only  learns  next  to  nothing,  but, 
what  is  much  worse,  his  head  is  being  filled 
with  incorrect  notions,  which  later  on  hinder 
him  in  seeing  and  acquiring  what  is  correct. 
He  becomes  accustomed  to  wander  about  with 
half-grasped  ideas,  and  to  consider  the  teach- 
er who  has  imparted  them  to  him  as  a  light  of 
the  world  and,  like  his  model,  to  despise  his 
betters  who  bring  and  demand  clearness  in 
everything.  "That  man  has  no  learning!  He 
knows  only  what  is  comprehensible  to  every- 
body," that  is  what  his  admired  teacher  has 
meant  to  say  only  too  often,  and  the  boy  has 


98  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

ended  by  blabbing  it  after  him.  His  ideas 
about  studying,  learning,  and  scholars  will, 
in  consequence,  remain  wrong,  possibly  for 
all  time,  as  we  only  too  often  hear  grown-ups 
deliver  such  misjudgments. 

Much  worse  are  the  evil  consequences  of 
such  instruction  upon  life.  The  boy  does  not 
learn  anything  in  a  proper  manner,  grasps 
nothing  clearly,  receives  nothing  as  his  pos- 
session, but  by  degrees  allows  the  half-truths 
or  even  the  absolute  nonsense  to  be  funneled 
into  him,  babbles  the  undigested  stuff,  and 
considers  himself  to  be  a  wiseacre,  if  his  su- 
perficialities can  surprise  and  perplex  others 
as  his  teacher  perplexed  him  before.  Then  he 
proceeds  to  act  in  the  same  way  in  all  the  af- 
fairs of  life. 

He  considers  it  common  and  low  to  insist 
on  clear,  enlightening  views,  or  to  respect  and 
emulate  those  who  have  them.  He  can  never 
master  his  subject  completely,  for  he  has  not 
been  taught  how  to  do  this.  Nor  would  he 
wish  to  master  it,  for  he  feels  at  home  in  the 
half-darkness,  and  fears  the  clear  light  of 
common-sense. 

Hence  the  opinion  entertained  concerning 
scholars  of  that  type  is  frequently  correct, 


The  Skill  for  Making  a  Scholar      99 

when  it  is  said  of  them  that  they  are  not  fit 
for  affairs,  for  they  stir  up  the  clear  water 
until  it  becomes  turbid.  They  heap  rocks 
upon  rocks  in  order  to  level  a  molehill,  but 
they  only  cover  it  and  make  the  evil  so  much 
the  worse. 

Worst  of  all  are  the  consequences  of  such 
confusing  instruction  upon  the  heart.  I  have 
found  that  the  men  of  that  class  are  usually 
very  conceited  and  extremely  supercilious 
toward  persons  with  brighter  views, — if  they 
do  not  fear  them  or  expect  something  from 
them.  And  as  the  faults  of  the  parents  and 
teachers  are  easily  transferred  to  the  children 
and  pupils,  there  is  danger  that  even  these 
will  be  transmitted  to  the  younger  genera- 
tion. 

After  many  failures  I  finally  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  my  nearest  friends,  for  ex- 
ample Professor  W.,  Pastor  Glaubitz,  and 
others,  might  be  right  when  they  asserted  that 
I  possessed  the  necessary  knowledge  to  ad- 
vance my  son  farther  than  I  had  dared  to 
hope. 

However,  they  were  not  entirely  right,  al- 
though the  start  seemed  to  justify  them,  for 
they  had  counted  too  little  upon  the  perfecti- 


lOO       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

bility  of  human  nature,  which  is  immeasur- 
ably great. 

Had  I  been  obliged  to  impart  everything  to 
my  son  in  the  usual  way,  I  should  not  have 
been  able  to  bring  him  half  so  far  as  I  actually 
have  brought  him,  and  I  should  have  wasted 
two  or  three  times  the  energy  and  time  and 
have  caused  him  a  considerable  amount  of 
torture.  But  I  proceeded  in  the  very  oppo- 
site direction,  and  he  would  have  learned  a 
great  deal  more,  if  I  had  known  more  of  the 
subject. 

He  learned  constantly,  without  noticing  it. 
He  increased,  refined,  and  heightened  his 
mental  powers  to  such  an  extent  that  he  soon 
saw  through  every  subject  that  presented  itself 
to  him ;  or,  at  least,  did  all  he  could  in  order  to 
see  through  it,  for 

"His  wings  with  the  victory  grew!" 

Yet  he  did  not  imagine  that  he  was  doing 
anything  but  what  any  child,  any  ordinary 
man,  did  and  should  do.  Besides,  he  learned 
gladly  because  he  experienced  manifold 
pleasures  in  doing  so,  and  observed  the  con- 
stant growth  of  his  ability  to  advance  still 
farther. 


The  Skill  for  Making  a  Scholar     lOi 

While  so  many  people  get  tired  of  studying 
and  learning,  he  became  ever  more  eager  for 
it.  It  actually  caused  him  torment  to  dis- 
cover a  field  of  knowledge  in  v^hich  he  knew 
little  or  nothing.  "Oh,  how  much  pleasure  I 
am  missing!"  he  would  not  only  say,  but  also 
feel,  with  tears  of  longing.  Hence  his  im- 
measurably high  respect  for  those  who  knew 
more  than  he,  and  the  tender  gratitude  which 
he  showed  a  person  who  gave  himself  the 
trouble  to  enlighten  him. 

He  seized  every  book,  every  science,  every 
language  with  the  eager  desire  of  making  its 
excellent  contents  his  own.  When  such  a  state 
is  reached  with  boys  and  youths,  everything 
has  been  attained.  The  rest  is  done  by  God, 
or,  rather,  by  the  power  which  he  gives,  the 
divine  spark,  which,  unobserved  by  the  com- 
mon eye,  glows  very  brightly  within  us. 

A  boy  who  has  been  thus  guided  advances 
farther  and  farther,  until  impeded  by  the 
limitations  of  human  or  his  own  particular 
nature.  He  will  and  must  attain  to  something 
high  and  good. 

I  surmised  all  this,  but  I  only  surmised  it. 
I  did  not  see  it  as  clearly  and  as  surely  as  later 
on.    But  I  grasped  it  with  sufficient  clearness, 


102       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

to  base  an  idea  upon  it  which  was  at  once  re- 
ceived in  Leipsic  with  universal  approval.  I 
resolved,  with  the  encouragement  of  my  late 
friend,  Professor  Erhard,  to  open  an  educa- 
tional institution  which  would  give  its  pupils 
the  kind  of  preparation  my  son  had  received. 

I  intended  to  take  in  this  preparatory  school 
no  more  than  ten  children  at  a  time,  in  order 
to  give  them  the  best  personal  attention,  and 
I  intended  to  select  and  educate  my  own 
teachers,  and  to  guide  as  much  as  possible  in 
person,  in  order  to  minimize  annoyances.  It 
was  evident  what  I  wanted  to  accomplish, 
and  people  were  quite  satisfied  with  the  prob- 
able results,  and  they  had  confidence  in  my 
necessary  power  and  sufficient  will.  They 
offered  me  boys  on  all  sides,  and  as  young  as 
I  wanted  them,  and  all  other  offers  were  sat- 
isfactory to  me.  I  could  not  yet  take  boarding 
pupils,  and  so  was  to  take  them  as  half- 
boarders. 

My  wife,  too,  was  requested  to  do  the  same 
with  ten  girls,  and  she  was  also  offered  chil- 
dren from  the  best  families  under  the  same 
conditions.  But  Fate  willed  otherwise,  for 
the  Westphalian  Government  ordered  me  to 
go  with  my  son  to  Goettingen.     I  was  thus 


The  Skill  for  Making  a  Scholar     103 

obliged  to  reject  those  offers  and  the  stipend 
for  my  son  at  Leipsic,  but  I  will  all  my  life 
think  gratefully  of  the  proffered  kindness. 

Now  I  know  human  perfectibility  still  bet- 
ter. Now  I  am  positive  that  such  a  prepara- 
tory school  would  suffice  to  educate  the 
children's  bodies,  minds,  and  souls  to  such 
an  extent  that  their  powers  in  all  three  direc- 
tions would  soon  appear  unusually  great  and 
they  would  be  able  to  withstand  evil  influences 
from  without;  that  the  mental  powers  of  chil- 
dren so  educated  would  above  all  put  them  in 
a  position  to  work  their  own  way  and,  with 
only  mediocre  further  instruction,  accomplish 
extraordinary  results  in  the  world.  For, 
once  the  powers  of  the  human  soul  have  had 
the  proper  incitement,  they  can  never  be  re- 
pressed afterward.  Put  fetters  upon  them, 
and  they  will  break  them  and  come  out  still 
more  powerful.  Men  whose  mental  powers 
have  once  been  awakened  and  later  repressed, 
have  often  unexpectedly  trodden  new  paths, 
on  which  they  have  accomplished  incredible 
results.  Decidedly,  it  will  long  remain  an 
unsolved  riddle  where  human  perfectibility 
ends, — so  far  are  we,  according  to  my  sincere 
conviction,  still  removed  from  the  goal. 


CHAPTER   IX 

Objections  to  the  Early  Education  of 
MY  Son 

It  is  impossible  to  relate  all  the  objections 
which  reason  and  unreasonableness,  kindness 
of  heart  and  meanness,  have  brought  forward. 
I  touch  only  upon  those  that  seem  to  be  sensi- 
ble, and,  therefore,  have  remained  in  my  mem- 
ory.   I  will  refute  them  as  briefly  as  possible. 

I  must  distinctly  mention  here  that  the 
main  objections  emanated  from  people  who 
had  not  yet  met  the  boy.  As  a  rule  they  took 
everything  back  as  soon  as  they  saw  and  spoke 
with  him. 

When  he  was  eight  years  old,  he  became 
known  to  the  world  of  scholars. 

"He  must  be  sickly  and  feeble,"  they  said, 
"and  the  gain  of  early  maturity  is  as  nothing 
in  comparison  with  the  child's  health." 

Excellent  men,  who  knew  the  child  inti- 
mately, testified  over  their  names  that  he  was 
perfectly  well. 

"He  will  grow  sick  in  his  ninth  or  tenth 

104 


Objections  to  Early  Education       105 

year,  then  he  will  drag  out  a  sickly  year  or 
two,  and  will  die  in  the  eleventh  or  twelfth 
year  of  his  brief  existence." 

He  neither  grew  ill  nor  died. 

"He,  no  doubt,  passes  most  of  his  time  at 
the  study-table,  and  that  cannot  be  good  for 
him!" 

Men,  who  knew  better,  made  public  decla- 
ration that  he  passed  less  time  at  the  table 
studying  than  almost  any  child. 

"He  does  not  enjoy  his  childhood!" 

Others, — not  I, — ^were  loud  in  asserting 
that  it  would  not  be  easy  to  find  a  happier  and 
a  merrier  child. 

"He  is  too  much  left  to  himself!" 

Yet  it  became  daily  better  known  that  I 
used  to  take  him  with  me  while  he  was  still 
a  mere  infant,  and  introduced  him  into  all 
kinds  of  society. 

"He  will  grow  too  serious!" 

To  this  the  highest  authorities  testified  that 
upon  occasion,  when  it  was  required,  he  could 
become  very  serious,  but  that  the  moment 
that  was  no  longer  necessary,  he  was  childish- 
ly happy,  nay,  could  be  wanton  and  naughty, 
just  as  any  well-brought-up  child  may  be. 

"Children's  amusements  must  annoy  him!" 


io6       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

Guthsmuths  and  others  went  on  record  as 
affirming  that  he  took  active  part  in  all  the 
games  of  children,  and  gamboled  about  and 
played  with  children  with  visible  joy. 

"He  will  never  know  how  to  get  along  with 
children!" 

Children  who  became  acquainted  with  him 
would  rather  play  with  him  than  with  any 
other  child,  because  he  demanded  nothing  un- 
reasonable of  them,  did  not  spoil  their  things, 
and  yielded  pleasantly. 

"He  will  be  proud,  vain,  self-willed,  and 
will  look  down  contemptuously  upon  his 
playmates !" 

His  playmates  stopped  envying  him  his 
knowledge,  and  tolerated  the  respect  and  love 
which  he,  on  that  account,  enjoyed  from  their 
parents  and  other  relatives,  only  because  he 
was  so  modest  and  unpretentious,  and  not  in- 
frequently tried  to  learn  from  them  what  they 
knew  better  than  he. 

He  never  paraded  his  knowledge,  and  there 
could  be  no  thought  of  boasting. 

"He  is  being  educated  just  for  the  study- 
table,  and  so  he  will  feel  himself  out  of  place 
in  society,  and  will  not  know  how  to  behave 
there." 


Objections  to  Early  Education       107 

But  he  was  liked  as  much  at  court  as  in 
peasants'  cabins,  in  the  house  of  the  wealthy 
merchant  as  of  the  minister,  in  the  society  of 
the  refined  landed  proprietor  as  of  the  honest 
burgher,  all  insisted  that  he  fitted  into  their 
circle  as  though  he  had  been  brought  up  for 
it. 

"In  his  thirteenth  to  fifteenth  year,  when 
he  reaches  the  age  of  puberty,  he  will  grow 
weak,  will  fade  away  and  die!" 

All  that  did  not  happen,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, he  grew  very  strong,  blossomed  like  a 
rose,  and  continued  to  live. 

**If  he  survives  that  critical  period  and  car- 
ries away  no  bodily  harm,  he  will  none  the 
less  be  mentally  affected.  He  will  stand  still, 
and  of  what  use  will  it  then  be  that  he  former- 
ly advanced  so  rapidly." 

He  was  not  mentally  affected,  but  kept  mak- 
ing rapid  progress  as  before. 

"He  will  have  a  mind  for  nothing  but  learn- 
ing and  dry  languages.  What  is  beautiful  and 
pleasing  will  forever  remain  a  matter  of  in- 
difference to  him.  What  an  irretrievable  loss 
for  him!" 

Indeed,  indeed,  if  it  were  only  true!  But 
even  as  a  child  did  he  love  the  beautiful  in 


io8       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

Nature,  in  the  world  of  man  and  beast,  as 
well  as  in  the  works  of  the  great  authors  and 
poets,  and  he  was  quick  in  finding  and  point- 
ing it  out.  Later  on  he  recited  and  read  ex- 
ceptionally well,  as  most  cultured  people 
asserted.  For  that  reason  and  because  of  the 
joy  with  which  he  took  part  in  social  games, 
or  directed  them,  he  was  much  sought  for  in 
elegant  society,  and  especially  by  young  men 
and  women  of  refinement. 

Now  he  writes  both  prose  and  poetry  with 
indescribable  ease  and,  as  I  am  assured,  not 
without  success. 

The  last  objection  which  I  shall  mention 
came  from  St.  Petersburg.  It  was  the  only 
one  which  for  a  time  perplexed  me,  because 
it  referred  to  too  remote  a  future  for  me  to  be 
able  to  refute  it  by  anything  in  the  present. 
And  yet  I  did  not  dare  to  present  the  future 
all  too  favorably  to  myself.  Besides,  the  ob- 
jection came  from  one  whom  I  respected 
equally  as  a  philosopher  and  as  a  sensible,  ex- 
perienced, and  well-meaning  man,  who  loved 
me  and  mine,  and  communicated  his  misgiv- 
ings to  me  in  confidence,  without  trying  ma- 
liciously to  set  the  world  of  scholars  against 
me  and  my  work. 


Objections  to  Early  Education       109 

Kollegienrath  von  Jakob,  formerly  my 
teacher  as  Professor  of  Philosophy  at  Halle, 
later  my  friend  and  baptismal  witness  of  my 
last  child,  wrote  me  under  July  23,  181 1, 
when  Karl  was  eleven  years  old,  as  follows : 

As  regards  your  son,  I  can  easily  understand  how  such 
a  child  may  cause  his  parents  great  pleasure,  which  is  the 
more  agreeable  to  me,  since  these  parents  are  my  friends, 
whom  I  love.  Yet  I  must  confess  to  you  that  my 
pleasurable  sensation  has  not  been  without  an  admix- 
ture of  regret,  for  I  am  not  yet  convinced  that  this 
marvelous  precocity  will  be  an  advantage  to  your  child, 
from  which  he  will  be  happier  and  more  perfect  than 
other  men.  I  am  certainly  convinced  that  your  skill 
and  endeavor  are  mainly  responsible  for  the  early  devel- 
opment of  the  child's  powers.  Just  as  certain  it  appears 
to  me  that  your  son  has  extraordinary  natural  gifts, 
which  willingly  follow  the  incitement  of  the  paternal 
instruction. 

But  if  this  early  development  is  to  give  your  son  last- 
ing advantages,  it  must  proceed  proportionately.  The 
power  and  knowledge  which  your  son  has  received  up 
to  his  ninth  or  eleventh  year,  another  young  man  of 
talent  attains  only  in  his  fifteenth  to  nineteenth  year. 
The  increase  of  mental  powers  generally  takes  place  up 
to  one's  twenty-first  year,  after  which  knowledge  and 
experience  may  be  added,  but  hardly  a  greater  reasoning 
power.  If  now  your  son's  reasoning  power  continues 
to  increase  in  the  same  proportion  from  his  ninth  to  his 
twenty-first  year,  he  will  indisputably  stand  out  for  the 
rest  of  his  life  as  a  very  exceptional  man.  But  let  us 
assume  that  the  degree  of  his  reasoning  becomes  fixed 


no        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

in  his  fourteenth  year.  If  so,  he  will  in  his  twenty-first 
year  be  no  further  advanced  than  other  men  of  his  age, 
except,  perhaps,  that  he  will  have  some  more  knowledge. 
Your  son  would,  then,  be  admired  up  to  his  eighteenth 
or  twentieth  year,  after  which  he  would  all  of  a  sudden 
be  reckoned  among  the  class  of  all  other  men. 

I  now  must  submit  to  your  consideration  the  effect 
which  the  continued  admiration  of  what  is  extraordinary 
in  him,  which  cannot  help  affecting  him,  must  produce 
upon  him,  and  what  his  sensations  will  be,  if  in  his 
twentieth  or  twenty-first  year  he  sees  the  admiration  van- 
ish and  finds  himself  counted  among  ordinary  men.  This 
consideration  would  fill  me  with  great  anxieties,  if  I  were 
the  child's  father.  A  man  who  has  exercised  public  at- 
tention from  his  childhood,  must  feel  it  hard  when  he 
is  no  longer  so  highly  regarded.  Those,  my  dear  friend, 
are  my  misgivings  in  regard  to  the  educational  system 
which  you  have  chosen.  You  know  that  I  am  in  the 
habit  always  to  express  my  thoughts  freely  and  openly, 
and  I  especially  like  to  do  so  toward  persons  whom  I 
respect  and  love. 

I  answered  him  before  long,  saying  that 
what  he  was  afraid  of  might  be  true,  but  that 
I,  for  good  reasons,  had  no  such  fear,  and  that 
I  would  use  the  proper  precaution,  so  that  it 
would  not  harm  Karl  much,  if,  indeed,  it 
should  happen :  that  three  years  hence,  at  my 
son's  fourteenth  year,  I  would  write  him 
(Professor  von  Jakob)  openly  and  honestly, 
as  is  my  wont,  about  further  developments.  If 
his  misgivings  came  true  I  would  not  hide  it 


Objections  to  Early  Education        ill 

from  him,  but,  in  the  contrary  case,  he  must 
allow  me  to  announce  the  truth  to  him  in  my 
name  and  in  the  name  of  my  son. 

On  June  22,  1814,  when  my  son  was  within 
ten  days  of  fourteen  years,  I  wrote  him  as  fol- 
lows: 

But  first  of  all  concerning  your  opinion  of  my  son! 
Your  idea  that  the  degree  of  his  intellect  might  become 
fixed  in  his  fourteenth  year  and  he  would  not  advance 
any  further,  therefore  would  cease  being  admired  in  his 
twentieth  or  twenty-first  year  and  so  would  become  ill- 
tempered,  is  exceedingly  clever;  and  I  must  confess  to 
you  that  no  other  man  made  that  objection  to  me,  where- 
fore it  at  first  perplexed  me  very  much.  I  am  one  of 
those  few  who  do  not  try  to  reason  away  what  at  a 
future  day  may  cause  them  an  unpleasantness.  It  may 
be  that  things  will  happen  as  you  think,  but  so  far  it 
does  not  seem  likely.  ( 1 )  My  son  will  be  fourteen 
years  old  on  the  first  of  July,  and  he  is  still  visibly  gain- 
ing in  intellectual  powers.  (2)  He  is  still  extremely 
modest,  and  does  not  wish  to  be  admired,  or,  rather,  does 
not  notice  that  he  is  admired. 

I,  therefore,  hope  that  he  will  not  so  soon  come  to  a 
standstill,  or  that,  if  it  occurs,  he  will  grieve  less  than 
would  a  vain  young  man  about  the  cessation  of  admira- 
tion, so  that  nothing  will  be  lost,  whereas  much  will  be 
won — a  careful  education,  a  mass  of  information,  early 
experiences,  knowledge  of  the  world,  acquaintance  with 
refined  society  through  his  travels  and  through  the  re- 
spectful and  kind  reception  accorded  him  in  the  best 
homes. 

Neither  of  us  can  decide  the  matter, — it  lies  "in  the 


112        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

lap  of  the  blessed  gods,"  but  probability  is  much  more 
on  my  side  now  than  three  years  ago. 

Thus  this  last  objection,  which,  for  the 
reasons  mentioned,  caused  me  more  anxiety 
than  any  other,  has  been  happily  overcome. 
Thank  Heaven,  if  I  had  to  answer  that  letter 
to-day,  I  would  do  it  with  greater  calm  and 
with  more  joyful  gratitude  toward  God,  for 
what  I  wrote  on  that  twenty-second  of  June  is 
as  fully  true  to-day  as  then.  Indeed,  it  seems 
to  me  that  I  could  now  say  more  for  me  and 
my  son. 


CHAPTER  X 

Did  my  Son  Profit  from  his  Early 
Education? 

Certainly  !    And  in  many  essential  ways. 

One  of  the  main  foundations  of  his  educa- 
tion was  training  for  piety  and  morality.  He 
saw  in  everything  God, — his  Father  and  the 
Father  of  all.  He  honored  and  loved  every- 
thing about  him,  down  to  beasts  and  plants, 
as  his  fellow-creatures,  consequently  to  some 
extent  as  his  brothers  and  sisters.  He,  there- 
fore, strove  to  stand  higher  and  higher  on  the 
great  ladder  of  gradations,  but  without  any 
envy  and  contempt  for  other  beings.  On  the 
contrary,  he  respected  them  sincerely  and 
loved  them  tenderly.  He  had  deep  compas- 
sion for  those  whom  he  thought  to  be  under 
him.  He  endeavored  to  raise  himself  only 
through  the  instruction  of  his  parents,  through 
intercourse  with  cultured  people,  and  through 
his  own  industry,  and  all  those  means  were 

113 


114        ^^^  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

dear  to  him,  quite  contrary  to  the  manner  of 
ordinary  children. 

He  spoke  with  God  as  with  his  friend, 
thanked  Him  for  His  gifts  and  His  kindly 
guidance,  asked  for  His  further  aid  in  his  af- 
fairs and  referred  every  agreeable  occurrence, 
every  pleasure  which  he  enjoyed,  to  Him, 
the  All-good,  the  giver  of  joys.  In  the  har- 
monica, as  in  the  blossoming  rose;  in 
Raphael's  painting,  as  in  the  song  of  the 
thrush;  in  the  mountains  of  Saxon  Switzer- 
land, as  in  the  blade  of  grass;  in  spiritual  man, 
as  in  the  cleverness  of  his  dog — everywhere 
he  saw  and  felt  God. 

He  prayed  often  and  eagerly,  but  prefera- 
bly when  left  alone,  or  in  the  presence  of  only 
his  parents,  reluctantly  before  a  third  person. 
That  one  may  be  able  to  judge  his  manner  of 
praying,  I  communicate  a  prayer  which,  in 
its  fundamental  idea,  I  have  frequently  heard 
him  recite.  But  he  prayed  differently  in  the 
different  conditions  and  situations  of  life.  If 
we  were  on  the  point  of  traveling,  he  begged 
God  to  protect  us  further,  and  thanked  Him 
for  His  previous  aid.  If  we  were  somewhere 
visiting,  he  prayed  God  richly  to  reward  our 
friends  for  their  kindness,  and  so  forth.     If 


Profit  from  Early  Education        115 

one  of  us,  his  parents,  or  his  friends,  was  ill, 
he  prayed  for  his  recovery.  Here  is  the  gen- 
eral scheme  of  it: 

Karl's  Heartfelt  Prayer,  Evening  and  Morn- 
ing, WITH  Variations,  According  to  Times 
and  Circumstances 

"I  thank  you,  O  God,  for  having  given  us 
such  a  good  night.  Give  us  also  a  good  day! 
Reward  my  parents  for  the  good  education 
which  they  have  given  me  heretofore!  Help 
them  to  continue  to  give  it  to  me  in  the  future! 
Preserve  them  for  me  safe  and  sound  for  a 
long  time  to  come!  Thanks  for  the  many 
joys  which  I  have  daily  been  enjoying  through 
them  and  through  other  men!  Assist  me  to- 
day to  be  well-behaved,  obedient,  and  dili- 
gent! Make  me  choose  a  vocation  which 
will  be  the  most  useful  for  me  and  for  my 
parents! 

"Keep  me  from  avarice,  pride,  impure 
thoughts,  and  lying!  Give  us  the  pleasant,  if 
it  is  salutary  for  us!  Give  us  also  that  which 
seems  evil  to  us,  if  it  is  good  for  us,  even  if 
we  ask  you  to  avert  it  from  us!  Teach  us  to 
bear  wrongs!    Reward  those  who  have  done 


Ii6        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

much  for  me  I    Be  good  to  all  men,  especially 
to  those  who  suffer  1" 

This  principle  of  a  pious  and  moral  educa- 
tion, the  detailed  acquaintance  with  what  is 
most  instructive  in  the  Old,  and  especially  in 
the  New  Testament,  most  of  all  with  the  life 
and  teachings  of  Jesus,  in  the  best  extracts 
and  writings,  laid  a  very  solid  foundation  for 
his  future  rectitude  and  kindness  of  heart. 
The  contemplation  of  the  Deity  in  all  His 
creations,  the  frequent,  intimate  conversation 
with  Him,  kept  his  own  constant  attention 
upon  himself,  so  that  he  did  not  easily  allow 
himself  to  do  any  wrong  or  to  be  led  into  it  by 
anybody  else.  His  heart  was  and  remained 
so  innocent  that  very  sensible  people  called 
him  as  pure  as  an  angel. 

For  that  reason  he  would  do  nothing  in  our 
absence  that  he  was  forbidden  to  do.  He 
would  say  that  God  sees  it  all  and  should  not 
be  offended.  Occurrences  of  the  kind  I  am 
going  to  relate  were  common  and,  in  the  na- 
ture of  things,  had  to  happen. 

We  were  once  visiting  Pastor  E.  at  L.  Next 
morning,  at  the  coffee-drinking,  Karl  care- 
lessly spilled  some  of  his  milk  on  the  table. 


Profit  from  Early   Education        117 

The  law  was  that  in  such  a  case  he  was  to  be 
punished  by  getting  nothing  more  to  eat  or 
drink,  except  bread  and  salt. 

He  was  very  fond  of  milk.  The  E.'s  had  on 
that  occasion  made  it  particularly  sweet  for 
him  and  had  given  him  a  piece  of  fine  cake 
with  it,  because  they  had  become  exceedingly 
fond  of  him.  Karl  suddenly  grew  purple  in 
his  face,  was  very  much  embarrassed,  and 
stopped  drinking.  I  knew  well  why,  but  I 
pretended  I  did  not  see  it. 

The  E.'s,  too,  saw  it,  and  encouraged  him  to 
finish  his  milk.  He  declined,  and  finally 
admitted  that  he  could  not  go  on  drinking, 
because  he  had  carelessly  spilled  some  on  the 
table.  They  naturally  assured  him  that  that 
did  not  make  any  difference,  and  that  he 
should  go  on  drinking  his  milk.  I  kept  quiet, 
and  purposely  busied  myself  with  picking  up 
our  things.  Karl  could  not  be  moved,  so  that 
the  E.'s  finally,  from  their  great  love  for  the 
child,  grew  angry  at  me,  because  they  imag- 
ined that  I  had  given  him  the  command  by  a 
nod. 

I  then  sent  Karl  out,  and  explained  to  them 
how  it  all  was.  But  there  was  no  use.  They 
insisted  that  it  was  against  nature  for  a  healthy 


ii8        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

child,  who  had  a  good  appetite,  to  decline 
sweet  milk  with  cake,  because  a  law  forbade 
him  to  do  so,  on  account  of  a  little  transgres- 
sion. 

"Just  go  away,  and  he  will  drink  his  milk!" 

"Very  well,"  I  replied,  "I  will  go  away,  in 
order  that  you  may  see  that  his  behavior  flows 
from  his  soul  and  is  not  forced  by  me,  but  on 
the  one  condition  that  you  later  tell  me  the 
whole  truth,  how  it  has  all  happened.  I  prom- 
ise you  in  advance  that  I  will  not  reprove  him 
if  he  should  drink  the  milk." 

They  promised  me  that  they  would  tell  me 
all  about  it. 

Now  Karl  was  called  in,  and  I  went  away 
under  some  pretext.  The  E.'s  did  their  best 
to  make  him  eat  and  drink,  but  in  vain.  They 
sweetened  his  milk  still  more.  But  that  did 
no  good.  They  told  him  that  they  would  fill 
up  the  cup  as  before,  so  that  I  should  not 
notice  the  difference,  and  they  offered  him 
other  cake,  with  the  sophical  remark,  "The 
law  cannot  forbid  this!"  They  particularly 
directed  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  I  should 
not  find  out  anything  about  it.  Karl  re- 
mained unperturbed,  and  he  repeated: 

"Even  if  my  father  does  not  know  it,  God 


Profit  from  Early  Education        119 

does,  and  that  is  the  main  thing.  It  would 
certainly  be  a  deception  if  I  should  partake 
of  other  milk  and  cake." 

They  reminded  him  that  he  had  to  take 
a  long  walk  and  that  he  needed  the  proper 
sustenance  for  it.  He  insisted  that  bread  and 
salt  made  red  cheeks,  and  would  give  him  the 
required  strength. 

They  finally  saw  themselves  obliged  to  call 
me  in,  and  they  told  me,  with  tears  in  their 
eyes,  what  had  happened.  I  acted  as  coolly 
as  I  could,  kissed  Karl,  and  said  to  him: 

"Dear  Karl,  you  have  accepted  the  punish- 
ment of  your  own  free  will,  and  you  wanted 
to  take  it  honestly.  For  that  reason,  and  for 
the  sake  of  our  intended  walk  and  the  re- 
quest of  our  friends,  I  want  you  to  consider 
it  finished.  Go  on  eating  your  cake  and 
drinking  your  milk!  You  have  fulfilled  the 
law.    I  free  you  from  everything." 

Now  Karl  gratefully  and  gladly  partook 
of  the  offered  food.  The  E.'s  could  not  un- 
derstand how  it  was  possible  for  a  child  of 
six  years  to  have  such  self-control  as  to  deny 
himself  a  favorite  dish,  under  the  above-men- 
tioned circumstances  and  with  his  good  appe- 
tite. 


120        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

They  did  not  know  sufficiently  the  high 
power  of  a  pure  piety  and  the  resulting  mor- 
ality, for  with  it  much  more  can  be  done, 
without  it  but  little. 

A  second  principle  was  thp  development 
and  strengthening  of  his  body  and,  as  much 
as  possible,  its  separate  powers.  Here  also 
naturally  belong  the  sharpening  and  strength- 
ening of  the  senses. 

A  third  principle  was,  from  the  very  be- 
ginning, the  highest  development  of  his  men- 
tal powers,  in  all  their  several  capacities — 
reason,  acute  perception,  wit,  memory,  fancy, 
and  so  forth.  I  have  already  said  something 
of  this,  but  I  will  now  discuss  it  at  greater 
length. 

Here  belongs  the  acquisition  of  a  literary 
language,  with  correct  thinking,  questioning, 
answering,  retorting,  etc.,  which  so  pleasantly 
surprised  people.  It  was  for  this  reason  that 
his  company  was  enjoyed  even  before  he  had 
learned  the  least  thing  about  the  languages  or 
sciences.  How  many  splendid  pleasures  have 
thus  been  granted  to  Karl,  and  how  much  he 
has  heard,  seen,  and  learned  by  it! 

The  most  cultured  men  of  the  regions  where 
I   happened   to   sojourn   or  to  visit,   gladly 


Profit  from  Early  Education        1 21 

showed  or  had  shown  to  the  child  anything 
that  would  cause  him  pleasure,  and  thus  his 
childhood,  on  account  of  the  very  goodness  of 
his  heart,  passed  under  the  noblest  enjoy- 
ments and  constant  instruction. 

It  was  in  his  sixth  year  that  his  linguistic 
instruction  began,  and  from  his  clear  convic- 
tion that  he  needed  it  for  his  welfare,  from 
the  employment  of  a  proper  and  simple  meth- 
od, as  well  as  from  a  cautiously  chosen  se- 
quence of  the  same,  his  acquisition  of  foreign 
languages  became  a  not  very  difficult  struggle 
with  single  words  and  their  forms.  In  fact, 
his  exercises  in  the  reading  of  foreign  lan- 
guages soon  grew  to  be  for  him  what  the 
exercises  in  reading  German  had  been — a  most 
agreeable  entertainment,  a  pleasant  pastime, 
during  which  it  did  not  even  occur  to  him  that 
he  was  learning  uncommonly  much. 

The  instruction  in  the  sciences  had  long 
been  prepared,  by  discussions,  visits  to  a  thou- 
sand memorable  things,  by  journeys,  by  stories 
from  ancient  and  modern  history,  and  by  his 
own  reading  in  all  the  languages  known  to 
him. 

He  was  ever  anxious  to  know  more,  and 
eagerly  asked  for  what  has  to  be  imparted  to 


122        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

other  children  with  the  greatest  difficulty. 
He  studied  ancient  and  modern  geography, 
natural  history  in  all  its  branches,  mathemat- 
ics, physics,  and  chemistry,  and  he  studied 
them  so  thoroughly  that  he  received  his  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  before  he  was 
fourteen,  after  having  previously  obtained 
very  flattering  certificates.  A  year  later  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Natural 
Sciences  in  the  Wetterau.  He  was  then  able 
to  live  in  the  beautiful  region  of  the  Rhine, 
and  to  study  jurisprudence  with  its  ancillary 
sciences  so  thoroughly  that  when  he  was  but 
sixteen  he  was  honorably  advanced  to  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  Then  he  traveled 
a  great  deal,  lived  for  a  longer  time  in  Berlin, 
had  a  mass  of  pleasant  and  some  very  un- 
pleasant experiences,  was  treated  by  many 
noble  men  with  love,  by  a  few  mean  ones  with 
malice,  received  from  his  king  the  high  favor 
of  a  two  years'  scientific  journey,  and  could 
use  the  interim  to  prepare  himself  theoretic- 
ally and  practically  for  that  honorable  and 
useful  commission. 


CHAPTER   XI 

Should  Children  be  Left  to  Themselves 
UP  TO  their  Seventh  or  Eighth  Year? 

It  is  a  very  natural  question,  "At  what  period 
should  we  begin  to  instruct  our  children?" 
It  has  become  fashionable  to  answer,  with 
Rousseau,  "From  the  seventh  or  eighth  year." 
To  all  those  who  answer  thus,  I  have  nothing 
to  say  but  this :  "Watch  the  children  who  have 
so  long  remained  without  instruction  or  even 
without  an  education,  and  see  what  has  be- 
come of  them.  You  will  generally  find  that 
they  have  turned  out  to  be  self-willed,  violent, 
even  ignorant  creatures,  slaves  to  their  desires 
and  vices.  If  you  wish  to  have  such  children, 
good  and  well, — do  as  those  parents  have 
done!" 

I  once  spoke  to  a  man  who  claimed  to  know 
all  about  education  and  who  expressed  himself 
contemptuously  about  my  son  who  had  at 
such  an  early  age  been  trained  to  external  and 
internal  good  manners. 

123 


124        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

"No,"  said  he,  "that  shall  not  happen  with 
my  son.  He  is  to  enjoy  his  childhood.  Up  to 
his  eighth  year  he  is  to  do  as  he  pleases,  being 
left  only  to  his  nurse  and  to  his  mother."  ^ 

"Then  you  will  have  little  to  educate  in 
him  later,"  I  quickly  retorted. 

The  outcome  showed  that  I  was  right. 
Though  the  boy  possessed  excellent  mental 
capacities,  he  turned  out  to  be  nothing  but  an 
ordinary  man  with  many  faults.  Had  he 
been  simple-minded,  his  father,  through  his 
own  fault,  would  have  made  a  fool  of  him. 

It  may  be  objected  that  there  are  great  men 
who  must  have  traveled  that  same  path.  In- 
deed, there  are,  but  they  are  rare.  Only  be- 
cause they  discovered  themselves  and  attracted 
the  attention  of  others  they  and  their  early 
lives  became  known,  and  the  foolish  conclu- 
sion was  drawn  that  that  was  the  right  way. 
But  one  will  always,  or  at  least  most  frequent- 
ly, find  in  them  dark  sides  as  well  as  bright 
ones,  for  the  early  acquired  and  deeply  root- 
ed faults  are  very  hard  to  get  rid  of.  It  would 
be  an  easy  matter  for  me  to  find  some  humili- 
ating defect  in  any  great  man  who  has  been 

*This  mother  lived  entirely  for  society,  so  the  child  was 
left  in  the  care  of  servants. 


Should  Children  be  Left  to  Themselves?   125 

brought  up  in  that  way;  but  I  refrain  from 
doing  so,  because  it  would  be  wrong,  in  the 
manner  of  evil-minded  persons,  to  try  to  drag 
great  men  into  the  dust. 

He  who  advocates  that  method  of  education 
as  the  best,  overlooks  the  fact  that  a  man  with 
very  great  capacities, — a  real  genius — will  al- 
ways succeed  and  become  something  great, 
but  that  all  those  who  have  only  mediocre  or 
humble  capacities  will  be  ruined,  and  there 
are  infinitely  more  of  these  than  of  geniuses. 
One  forgets  to  observe  how  noble,  sublime, 
and  useful  such  a  genius  might  have  become, 
if  he  had  been  properly  guided  and  educated 
from  the  start. 

The  same  man  who,  on  account  of  the 
bad  sides  in  his  character,  had  risen  to  eighty 
degrees,  by  careful  guidance  and  beneficently 
molded  circumstances,  might  have  risen  to  a 
hundred — that  is,  to  the  highest  degree  of 
possible  human  perfection,  and  that,  too,  on 
the  good  side  of  him. 

If  a  child  is  left  to  himself  or  to  the  servants, 
he  naturally  associates  with  other  children  in 
the  street.  At  first  only  with  those  of  neigh- 
bors, then  with  their  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances, and  finally  with  all  children,  for  man 


126        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

is  a  social  being,  and  children  as  a  rule  prefer 
children's  society.  Then  they  like  to  play, 
and  play  in  the  open  rightly  pleases  them 
most,  because  God  has  blessed  the  air  with  so 
many  refreshing,  strengthening,  exhilarating 
elements.  Therefore  the  child  feels  happiest 
in  the  open,  especially  if  he  can  there  play 
with  other  children. 

Had  I  to  choose,  I  would  myself,  in  spite  of 
the  great  dangers  connected  with  being  in 
the  street,  prefer  it  to  the  constant  staying  in 
the  room.  I  am  not  talking  of  Berlin  rooms. 
These,  as  a  rule  are  high,  airy,  bright,  pleas- 
ant, large,  and,  if  the  parents  do  right,  may 
act  as  small  play  halls  for  the  children.  No, 
I  am  talking  of  rooms  in  small  towns  or  in  the 
country,  where  the  whole  family  is  usually 
stuffed  together  in  a  small,  low,  narrow,  damp 
basement,  filled  with  all  kinds  of  utensils. 

Here  the  children  waste  away,  their  power 
of  digestion  is  diminished,  their  blood  creeps 
along,  instead  of  leaping,  their  cheeks  grow 
pale,  their  eyes  become  dimmed,  and  the  fire 
of  their  spirits  slowly  goes  out.  Stomach, 
head,  and  teeth  begin  to  ache,  there  follow 
indisposition  and  ennui,  and,  in  their  wake, 
contrariness,  stubbornness,  a  spirit  of  opposi- 


Should  Children  be  Left  to  Themselves?  127 

tion,  or  even  servility,  dullness,  prejudice,  and 
short-sightedness.  The  healthy  street  urchin 
may  some  day  do  something  right.  Often  he 
takes  his  own  peculiar  course  and  breaks  new 
paths,  whereas  such  a  dwarfed  little  man  as 
the  room-dweller  is  generally  good  for  noth- 
ing but  a  house-savant.  In  that  vocation  he 
finds  the  familiar  surroundings  and  remains 
bodily  and  spiritually  in  his  element. 

Yet  I  do  not  overlook  the  great  dangers  that 
await  the  boy  amidst  his  playmates  in  the 
street.  How  could  I  overlook  them?  I  have 
myself  observed  and  anxiously  watched  them. 
I  will  not  speak  here  of  the  secret  temptations 
for  masturbation,  the  most  terrible  of  juvenile 
vices,  of  the  incitements  for  disobeying  the 
parents  and  showing  them  disrespect,  of  de- 
ception and  even  thieving,  and  so  forth.  They 
occur,  indeed,  only  too  often,  and  their  con- 
sequences are  appalling.  But  I  wish  to  speak 
only  of  that  which  takes  place  openly,  during 
the  playing  in  the  street. 

In  some  places,  among  others  at  G.,  where 
the  large  stone  slabs  near  the  houses  favor 
many  children's  games,  one  constantly  sees 
children  gambling  for  money.  They  are  often 
so  poor  that  one  would  feel  like  giving  them 


128        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

alms,  and  yet  they  play  for  pennies  and  three- 
pence, and  win  from  or  lose  dimes  to  chil- 
dren whose  parents  are  rich.  Many  a  time  I 
have  called  out  to  them,  "Youthful  gamblers, 
old  deceivers  or  beggars!"  If  it  has  done 
good  only  once!  Besides,  I  have  hardly  ever 
walked  through  the  town  without  seeing  two 
or  three  in  a  fight.  This  at  first  begins  with 
some  little  dissension,  which  passes  over  to 
scolding  and  cursing,  and  ends  in  fighting,  in 
kicking,  throwing  stones,  etc.  "Fury  changes 
everything  into  weapons,"  says  Virgil. 

With  mortal  fear  I  have  watched  such 
fights,  and  have  done  all  in  my  power  to  stop 
them.  But  I  have  at  last  become  more  in- 
different, for  I  thought  of  myself  as  of  one 
with  weak  nerves  who  is  worried  at  the  very 
thought  that  somebody  might  just  then  be 
struggling  in  death  agony.  He  then  has  not 
a  calm  moment  in  his  life,  for  he  must  always 
say  to  himself,  "Now  somebody  is  again  strug- 
gling in  death  agony."  Just  the  same  happens 
to  a  philanthropist  during  a  fight.  He  must 
at  last  become  indifferent  to  it,  or  he  will  neg- 
lect his  business  in  his  eternal  attempts  to 
make  peace. 


Should  Children  he  Left  to  Themselves?  129 

In  some  places  there  has  grown  up  the  cus- 
tom of  throwing  sand.  It  begins  in  jest  and 
ends  in  the  most  terrible  earnest,  for,  if  one 
happens  to  turn  around  just  as  the  other  is 
throwing,  he  gets  the  sand,  with  the  splinters 
and  pebbles,  which  the  other  has  hurriedly 
picked  up,  straight  into  his  eyes.  One  is  lucky 
if  it  only  causes  pain,  and  the  eye  does  not  suf- 
fer from  it.  As  a  rule,  it  leads  to  the  heaviest 
fighting. 

In  other  places  snowballing  is  indulged  in 
in  the  winter.  There  would  be  no  objection 
to  it,  were  it  only  kept  within  bounds.  Throw- 
ing soft  snowballs  is  a  merry  jest,  productive 
of  agility,  quickness,  attention,  and  sturdiness. 
But  the  balls  grow  harder  and  harder.  Many 
boys  knead  them  for  a  long  time  with  their 
hands,  so  as  to  make  them  small  and  moist, 
then  let  them  lie  in  rows  and  get  frozen,  and 
finally  take  them  secretly  to  the  place  where 
they  expect  to  find  their  acquaintances.  Such 
a  snowball  causes  pain  in  the  back  or  the  chest, 
but  what  if  it  strikes  the  face  or  an  eye?  And 
the  boy  who  has  brought  it  along  is  sure  to 
throw  it  with  all  his  might  and  at  as  close  a 
range  as  he  can  get. 


130       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

More  than  once  have  I  seen  the  blood  flow 
freely  on  such  an  occasion,  or  the  nose  or  eye 
injured  for  life. 

How  often  have  I  been  a  witness  when  chil- 
dren in  a  sham  battle  have  accidentally  caused 
bad  injuries  or  have  been  incited  to  violent 
fights  from  which  such  injuries  resulted.  I 
still  think  with  horror  of  a  pupil, — I  will  call 
him  Mueller, — ^who  played  at  H.,  near  the 
parade  grounds,  close  to  the  high  school,  with 
his  companions.  The  grounds  are  surrounded 
by  a  wall,  and  trees  and  buildings  are  not  far 
oflf.  Mueller  for  a  long  time  ran  deftly 
among  these  objects  without  hurting  himself. 
I  was  afraid  for  him,  but  he  ran  too  fast  and 
was  pursued  too  closely,  and  I  was  too  far 
away  to  stop  him  with  my  voice. 

Now  his  pursuers  were  upon  him.  He 
wanted  to  get  away  from  them  by  running 
into  the  school  building.  One  side  of  the  door 
was  open,  the  other  was  closed,  being  barred 
at  the  top  and  bottom.  Mueller  ran  as  fast 
as  he  could,  and  turned  his  head  in  order  to 
get  in  through  the  open  side.  But  he  was  too 
close  and  so  ran  with  all  his  might  against  the 
projecting  bar  which  was  studded  with  nails. 
At  the  same  moment  the  blood  ran  in  streams 


Should  Children  be  Left  to  Themselves?  131 

down  his  face,  and  he  fell  to  the  ground  with 
a  cry  of  anguish. 

I  have  often  tried  to  find  out  why  this  boy 
had  his  hand  or  foot  maimed,  why  that 
boy  was  crippled,  a  third  one  had  disfiguring 
tumors  or  cuts  in  his  face,  a  fourth  one  had  a 
growth  on  his  eye,  a  fifth  was,  perhaps,  bereft 
of  an  eye,  and  I  have  learned  that  all  this  was 
caused  in  the  street.  The  children  had  natur- 
ally concealed  the  occurrence  from  their 
parents,  and  thus  had  prevented  the  timely  aid 
of  a  surgeon,  of  whom,  through  their  parents' 
fault,  they  are  nearly  always  in  fear. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  I  know  all  the  mis- 
chief, and  that  I  do  not  take  it  lightly,  but  I 
must  repeat  my  conviction:  If  I  should  have 
to  choose,  I  would,  in  spite  of  the  above-men- 
tioned great  dangers,  which  come  from  being 
in  the  street,  prefer  it  to  the  eternal  staying  in 
the  house.  All  those  who  are  lucky  enough 
to  survive  are  far  better  off  than  the  effemi- 
nate house-dolls  who  are  terrified  at  the  very 
sight  of  a  soft  snowball,  and  whom  a  drizzle 
or  a  cool  wind  puts  on  the  sick-bed. 

I  say,  then.  Woe  to  the  father  or  educator 
who  is  so  foolish  as  to  say:  "My  son  shall  do 
up  to  his  eighth  year  as  he  pleases,  for  up  to 


132        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

that  time  he  shall  be  left  in  charge  of  his 
nurse  and  his  mother  (a  society  woman)." 

From  all  that  it  follows  that  we  must  begin 
very  early  to  educate  our  children,  and  not 
only  this  but  we  ought  to  endeavor  to  bring 
into  the  world  children  as  little  handicapped 
as  possible  by  defects  transmitted  by  us.  Let 
us  pay  attention  to  our  bodies,  our  intellects, 
our  wills  (both  on  the  part  of  the  father  and 
the  mother) ;  let  us  ennoble  the  first  two  and 
control  the  latter,  even  at  a  time  when  our 
children  have  not  yet  been  procreated.  A 
simple,  moderate,  sparing,  satisfied,  happy 
life,  with  much  exercise  in  the  open  air,  fre- 
quent use  of  pure  water,  is,  as  a  rule,  the  best 
means  for  getting  children  whose  bodies  will 
be  entirely  sound,  and  whose  capacities  of 
heart  and  intellect  are  equally  desirable.  A 
man  should  train  himself  as  much  as  possible, 
and  should  choose  for  himself  a  healthy,  men- 
tally well-developed,  and  well-intentioned 
wife,  and  then  the  children  will  be  healthy, 
mentally  strong,  and  well-intentioned. 

Here  I  hear  a  mass  of  objections. 

One  says,  "In  my  situation  I  must  marry 
for  money."  Another  says,  "Without  the  dis- 
tinguished    relatives   of   my  wife    I   should 


Should  Children  be  Left  to  Themselves?  133 

never  have  reached  the  security  v^hich  I  am 
enjoying."  A  third,  "My  wife  danced  so  w^ell 
that  I  w^as  charmed  by  her."  A  fourth,  "My 
vv^ife  charmed  me  by  her  clever  and  witty  con- 
versation." A  fifth  says,  "I  loved  her,  and  I 
was  looking  for  a  wife  for  myself,  not  a  moth- 
er for  my  children,"  etc. 

I  answer,  "Gentlemen,  you  may  all  be  right 
in  your  way!  But  if  the  question  is  about  ex- 
pecting to  have  fine  children,  then  you  are  all 
wrong." 

After  everything  possible  has  been  done  for 
one's  children  before  their  procreation,  one 
should  double  the  precautions  during  the 
mother's  pregnancy.  Both  parents  must  co- 
operate in  this. 

Moderation  and  simplicity  in  food,  drink, 
and  the  enjoyment  of  corporal  love,  much 
exercise  in  the  open,  pure  drinking  water,  the 
most  scrupulous  bodily  cleanliness,  strict  exe- 
cution of  duties,  contentment,  joyfulness,  and 
faith  in  God. 

Those  are  the  surest  means  which  the  moth- 
er can  use,  in  order  to  provide  the  germinat- 
ing child  with  the  most  wholesome  and  useful 
nourishment.  If  the  father  sweetens  her  life 
by  thinking,  feeling,  and  acting  in  the  same 


134       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

way,  both  may  be  assured  that  the  Deity  will, 
as  a  rule,  give  them  a  healthy  child  that  is, 
at  the  very  least,  provided  with  average  capac- 
ities of  body  and  mind.  Nothing  more  is  re- 
quired. 


CHAPTER   XII 

What  we  did  to  Guard  Karl  against 

Flattery,  or,  at  Least,  to  Weaken 

ITS  Venom 

Karl  was  but  sparingly  praised  by  us,  some 
such  expression  as,  "All  right,  my  son!"  or 
"Well  done,  my  boy!"  or  "You  may  be  right  I" 
or  "Yes,  that  is  right!"  being  all  I  used  to 
express  my  approbation.  Some  other  stimuli 
were  employed,  for  example,  small  rewards, 
with  which,  however,  charitable  purposes 
were  invisibly  connected ;  the  noting  down  of 
his  conduct  in  a  book  which  Konsistorialrath 
Dr.  Funk  of  Magdeburg  had  presented  to 
him;  a  calm  yet  pleasant  recital  of  what  he 
had  accomplished  to  his  mother  or  one  of  the 
more  intimate  friends  of  the  family.  But  I 
every  time  said  rather  less  than  more.  The 
person  listening  to  the  account  would  then 
reply,  "Well,  that  pleases  me,  Karl!  I  like 
you  that  way!"  or  something  of  the  kind. 

135 


136        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

Karl  had  to  have  done  something  extraor- 
dinary for  his  age,  before  he  was  patted  or 
kissed.  That  I  gladly  did,  every  time  he  said 
or  did  something  morally  good.  A  fondling, 
a  kiss  from  me,  v^as  therefore  highly  appre- 
ciated by  him.  But  nothing  had  such  an  ef- 
fect with  him  as  the  assurance  I  gave  him 
especially  at  a  noteworthy  moment  of  his  life, 
that  he  now,  no  doubt,  was  standing  higher 
than  ever  in  the  eyes  of  God,  of  other  spirit- 
ual beings,  and  of  the  best  of  men,  and  that 
for  some  time  he  had  profitably  and  success- 
fully prepared  himself  to  do  something  really 
good  on  earth  and  later  to  be  employed  by  the 
Deity  for  higher  and  more  profitable  pur- 
poses. 

Then  his  childishly  pious  eye  would  smile 
to  us,  as  we  may  imagine  the  beatitude  of  an 
angel  who  after  a  noble  adventure  in  the  great 
kingdom  of  God  returns  to  the  Highest.  Usu- 
ally Karl,  after  such  a  conversation,  evinced 
still  more  docility,  more  industry,  more  good- 
ness of  heart  than  heretofore.  There  was 
therefore  no  need  of  greater  praise,  much  less 
of  flattery.  But  most  people  who  lived  out- 
side our  circle  did  not  appreciate  this,  and 
many  did  not  want  to  comprehend  it. 


Guarding  Against  Flattery  137 

If,  for  example,  it  was  noticed  that,  in  spite 
of  my  enthusiasm,  I  praised  my  son  with  cool 
consideration,  trying  to  lessen  the  value  of 
what  he  had  said  or  done,  and  actually  suc- 
ceeding in  lessening  it — they  attributed  to  me, 
instead  of  God-fearing  purposes,  such  traits 
as  harshness,  stubbornness,  pride,  injustice, 
arbitrariness,  and  even  envy  toward  my  own 
child,  because  they,  the  mean  ones,  could  not 
rise  to  the  higher  purposes.  If,  again,  I  told 
the  truth  about  him  in  his  absence,  such  a 
fatherly  feeling  was  denominated  vanity  or 
pride. 

Such  wry  judgments  were  often  uttered  in 
Karl's  presence,  and  for  ten  or  twelve  years 
they  have  tried  hard,  by  sarcasms  and  expres- 
sions of  pity,  and  by  actual  incitement  during 
my  absence  to  cause  a  rupture  between  me  and 
my  wife.  If  I  had  not  been  absolutely  just, 
and  at  the  same  time  reasonable  and  kind, 
those  wretches  would  have  actually  succeeded 
in  it. 

Those  who  were  somewhat  better  said  with 
wise  mien  whenever,  in  their  opinion,  I  did 
not  praise  enough,  or  sent  Karl  away,  as  soon 
as  I  surmised  that  the  cloud  of  praise  would 
be  discharged  in  the  boy's  presence,  "Oh,  but 


138       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

that  is  not  at  all  right  of  you!  He  has  de- 
served it,  and  merited  praise  encourages 
one!" 

It  made  no  difiference  how  much  I  implored 
them  to  be  careful,  they  knew  better,  at  least 
they  thought  they  knew  better,  and  they  only 
broke  forth  more  loudly  in  Karl's  presence. 

It  did  not  take  me  long  to  perceive  the 
weakness  or  meanness  of  many  of  my  friends 
and  neighbors.  I  was  therefore  careful  to 
make  my  arrangements  accordingly.  I  with- 
drew completely  from  some,  to  a  great  extent 
from  others.  And  as  often  as,  against  my  ex- 
pectation, it  became  necessary  for  the  good 
of  my  child,  I  had  no  hesitation  to  speak 
clearly  and  earnestly  about  the  dangers  of 
fulsome  praise.  Karl  understood  me  in  such 
cases  completely,  but  those  silly  wiseacres  nat- 
urally became  only  more  wily  toward  me. 

In  connection  with  sugar,  cake,  coffee,  beer, 
wine,  and  other  dainties  the  same  thing  took 
place.  But  my  close  friends,  partly  better, 
partly  more  educated  men,  were  exceedingly 
useful  to  me  in  this  matter.  They  understood 
what  I  wanted,  and  magnanimously  offered 
a  helping  hand.  I  needed  only  to  give  them  a 
hint,  and  they  worked  into  my  hands. 


Guarding  Against  Flattery  139 

If  my  wife  or  I  was  dissatisfied  with  Karl, 
they  never  defended  him,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
treated  him  with  some  coolness.  If  we  gave 
a  friendly  utterance  about  him,  he  was  hearti- 
ly fondled  by  them,  but  they  did  not  overflow 
with  praise. 

As  long  as  he  was  very  small  and  had 
learned  little  or  nothing,  we  accomplished  our 
aim  by  means  of  our  unfailing  device,  the  re- 
cital of  short,  purposely  invented,  stories  with 
a  moral. 

But  when  he  could  recite  with  expression, 
when,  to  the  astonishment  of  many  men,  he 
could  do  mental  calculations,  when  he  could 
read  rapidly  and  very  well,  and  even  began 
to  understand  French,  I  had  to  have  recourse 
to  other  means  as  well. 

The  highest  from  the  beginning  and  for  all 
time  remained  God  and  His  visible  counter- 
part among  men,  Jesus. 

In  conversations  about  God  I  frequently 
showed  him  how  immeasurably  deep  we  stood 
below  Him  and  below  those  many  millions  of 
spiritual  beings  whom  we  call  by  the  name  of 
angels :  I  showed  him  that  we  owed  Him  our- 
selves, all  our  bodily  and  mental  powers,  our 
fortunes,  our  education,  even  the  incitements 


140       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

to  do  good.  On  such  convictions  it  is,  indeed, 
easy  to  found  humility  of  spirit  and  modesty 
in  a  still  childishly  pure  mind. 

In  the  person  of  Jesus  we  showed  him  how 
infinitely  much  a  man,  even  of  the  highest 
type,  may  by  modesty  and  humility  gain  of 
wisdom,  mental  power,  magnanimity,  firm- 
ness, kindness  of  heart,  justice,  fair-minded- 
ness, faith  in  God,  submission  to  His  will, 
obedience  to  His  commands,  patience,  and  de- 
nial of  oneself. 

Thus  there  arose  in  his  heart  the  highest 
reverence  for  God,  the  strongest,  holiest  love 
for  Jesus,  and  the  eager  desire  to  become  like 
Him.  My  wife  Louise  or  I  had  only  to  men- 
tion an  incident  in  the  life  of  Jesus,  which  in 
some  way  cast  a  light  on  one  of  His  virtues, 
for  Karl  to  understand  us  at  once,  and  to  try 
in  a  touching  manner  to  apply  it  himself.  He 
naturally  found  himself  always  far  below  the 
Divinity,  consequently  he  was  by  every  com- 
parison, even  without  any  other  admixture, 
urgently  led  on  toward  modesty. 

Then  we  told  him  a  great  deal  about  emi- 
nent men.  If  they  excelled  in  intellect,  ability, 
talents,  and  so  forth,  we  accentuated  these  so 
clearly  and  so  objectively  that  the  humiliating 


Guarding  Against  Flattery  141 

conviction  of  having  to  climb  an  immeasur- 
able height  up  to  them  must  have  forced  itself 
upon  him,  though  we  laid  less  stress  upon  that. 
But  what  information  we  gave  him  about 
noble-minded,  virtuous  men,  their  God-pleas- 
ing, pious,  humanely  friendly  actions,  was  im- 
parted,—  as  indeed  it  could  not,  from  the  state 
of  our  feelings,  be  imparted  otherwise, — with 
ardor,  with  holy  joy,  sometimes  even  with 
tears.  Thus  his  heart  was  touched  and  moveii, 
and  the  desire  to  act  similarly  was  aroused  in 
him. 

Whenever  small  occasions  offered  them- 
selves, he  of  his  own  accord  acted  as  we  had 
wished ;  if  he  did  not,  we  reminded  him  of  the 
story  and  then  we  were  certain  not  to  miss  our 
aim. 

He  knew  by  heart  nearly  all  the  poems 
from  the  golden  period  of  German  poetry, 
which  inculcated  noble  actions,  sacrifices  for 
others,  love  of  man,  goodness  of  heart,  mag- 
nanimity, friendship,  and  so  forth.  He 
learned  them  readily  and  easily,  and  made 
their  contents  completely  his  own. 

The  "Lied  vom  Braven  Mann,"  "Frau 
Magdalis,"  "Zu  Dionys  dem  Tyrannen 
Schlich,"    "Rudolph    von    Habsburg,"    etc.. 


142        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

were  his  favorite  poems,  and  he  knew  them 
all  by  heart,  long  though  they  are. 

Now  I  ask  any  sensible  man  and  experi- 
enced educator:  Could  a  boy  with  all  that  be- 
come proud,  vain,  and  immodest? 

Not  easily!  And  of  a  child  that  is  not 
often  flattered  I  would  say,  Not  at  all ! 

This  venom  (flattery)  was,  however,  given 
him  more  and  more  as  time  went  on.  It  was 
given  to  him  in  many  shapes,  and  so  I  had  to 
think  of  all  kinds  of  antidotes. 

We  once  went  to  the  city  of  Halle,  and  I 
guessed  in  advance  that  in  the  company  with 
whom  we  were  to  dine,  and  in  the  homes 
where  we  were  to  visit,  Karl,  as  usual,  would 
be  showered  with  praise. 

So  after  we  had  set  out  for  Halle  I  began 
with  Louise,  who  understood  me  at  once,  an 
apparently  general  conversation  about  com- 
pliments, laudations,  and  flattery.  We  talked 
as  though  we  did  not  have  Karl  in  mind,  but 
in  reality  kept  a  close  watch  on  him.  Now 
and  then  I  threw  in  a  few  words,  which  I 
expected  to  affect  him  more  strongly,  and 
which  he  would  understand  as  referring  to 
him. 


Guarding  Against  Flattery  143 

He  comprehended,  as  showed  itself  soon 
afterward,  that  some  men,  from  a  certain 
softness  of  spirit  which  is  wrongly  called 
kindness  of  heart,  like  to  tell  pleasant  things 
to  another;  that  evil  men  frequently  do  so  in 
order  to  gain  advantages  for  themselves;  that 
ignorant  people,  without  being  evil,  readily 
do  the  same  thing  because  they  have  an  ex- 
aggerated idea  of  what  they  have  not  learned 
themselves;  and  that,  finally,  there  are  men 
who  try  to  use  flattery,  because  they  consider 
it  a  sign  of  refinement  not  to  say  anything  un- 
pleasant to  their  acquaintances,  or,  rather,  to 
tell  them  pleasant  things,  even  if  they  are  not 
true. 

True  praise,  I  added,  is  not  wordy.  It 
finds  its  expression  rather  in  a  tender  glance, 
a  soft  pressure  of  the  hand,  a  few  sincerely 
pronounced  syllables,  at  times  even  in  a  mere 
stroking  of  the  cheek,  or  in  a  kiss,  but  above 
all  else  in  love  and  kindness,  or  in  acceptable 
actions  for  the  good  of  those  who  have  earned 
the  praise. 

As  Pastor  J.  lately  did  with  me,  I  con- 
tinued, and  told  a  story  of  how  a  friend  of 
mine,  instead  of  making  me  compliments  for 


144        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

some  mental  labor,  or  flattering  me,  took  par- 
ticular pains  to  make  such  remarks  as  would 
help  me  to  improve  that  work. 

With  such  conversation  we  approached  the 
city.    I  became  jocose  and  said : 

"You  will  notice  at  the  very  gate  that  peo- 
ple for  a  mere  trifle  make  compliments,  that 
is,  say  something  with  which  they  connect  no 
idea  at  all,  or  the  very  opposite  idea.  Since 
I  am  in  the  habit  of  giving  the  gatekeeper  a 
few  cents,  he  will  come  leaping  out  merrily 
and  will  tell  me  that  he  is  my  humble  servant, 
will  inquire  about  my  health,  and  will  assure 
me  that  he  is  extremely  happy  to  hear  of  my 
well-being;  he  will  ask  what  my  orders  are, 
and  will  add  that  he  is  convinced  that  I  have 
nothing  dutiable  about  me."  (I  knew  the 
man's  ways  of  talking  by  rote.)  "He  would 
be  considerably  surprised,"  I  added,  "if  to  his 
'humble  servant'  I  should  say,  'Please,  take  off 
my  boots  and  shine  them  for  me,  for  they 
have  become  dirty  on  the  road,'  or  if  I  asked 
him  to  swear  to  his  assertion  that  he  was  ex- 
tremely happy  to  hear  of  my  well-being;  or 
if  to  his  question.  What  are  your  orders?'  I 
should  answer,  'Go  at  once  to  Professor  W. 
and  announce  our  arrival  I'  or  if  his  superior 


Guarding  Against  Flattery  145 

would  take  him  to  task,  'How  is  it  that  you 
are  convinced  that  the  pastor  has  nothing  du- 
tiable about  him?' 

"Yet  that  man  speaks  German,"  I  went  on, 
"and  good  German  at  that,  so  he  knows  what 
his  utterances  are.  You  see,  one  would  be 
very  much  deceived,  if  one  paid  attention  to 
such  words.  What  is  still  stranger,  is  that 
some  people  feel  that  the  parents  are  too  sen- 
sible and  too  earnest  to  have  any  compliments 
made  to  them,  so  they  think  they  can  make 
them  the  compliments  through  their  children. 

"As  is  well  known,  most  parents  love  in 
their  children  not  only  the  higher  being  that 
God  has  enclosed  in  a  body  and  has  entrusted 
them  with,  but  also,  animal-like,  their  young 
ones.  Thus  a  man  like  G.  imagines  that 
Witte  will  not  be  so  insensible  as  to  remain  in- 
different toward  the  praise  which  he  bestows 
on  Karl.  Karl  need  only  keep  from  doing 
something  unseemly,  to  be  extolled  with 
swollen  cheeks,  so  that  I  am  ashamed  and 
afraid  for  Karl.  For  what  can  the  poor  boy 
answer  to  such  untruths?  He  must  remain 
perplexed.  That  is  why  I  like  R.  and  W. 
They  praise  truly  and  sensibly.  G.  gains 
his  end  with  hundreds  of  parents,  but  the 


146        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

children  are  spoiled  by  it,  for  they  become 
conceited  and  believe  they  know  all. 

"It  is  strangest  of  all,"  I  continued,  "when 
parents  want  to  hear  their  children  praised, 
while  an  honest  man  cannot  make  up  his  mind 
to  please  them  by  doing  so.  It  may  be  that 
he  will  pay  the  tribute  of  customary  polite- 
ness, if  the  children  give  half  an  occasion  for 
it.  But  the  honest  man  will  not  be  induced 
to  do  more  than  that. 

"Meanwhile  these  people  try  their  utter- 
most to  get  at  him,  to  melt  the  ice  of  insen- 
sibility. If  the  honest  man  has  children  of 
his  own,  they  expect  to  have  an  easy  success, 
if  they  will  praise  them  unduly.  ^He  will 
certainly  be  polite  enough  to  give  something 
in  return!'  they  say,  and  so  they  lavish  praises, 
until  one  is  nauseated  and  has  to  remonstrate. 
That  stops  the  praises,  but  immediately  after- 
ward they  say,  Witte  is  an  uncouth  man  I  I 
praised  his  Karl  so  much,  but  it  did  not  do 
any  good.  I  hoped  he  would  say  a  word 
about  my  Fritz  or  Dorothy,  but  no!  Does 
he  imagine  he  can  educate  all  children? 
There  is  not  much  to  it  anyway!  His  Karl 
lacks  a  lot  of  things  which  he  is  much  in 
need  of. 


Guarding  Against  Flattery  147 

"They  are  right  there,  my  boy.  Do  you 
not  think  so?" 

Karl  assented  to  it  with  his  whole  soul, 
mentioned  some  things  which  he  needed,  and 
named  men  who  had  praised  him,  partly 
without  any  merit  of  his,  partly  away  above 
his  deserts. 

"I  have  seen  the  case,"  I  or  Louise  added, 
"when  two  fathers  or  mothers  carried  on  a 
regular  auction  sale.  One  would  outbid  the 
other  in  praises,  until  the  conviction  was 
forced  upon  a  person  that  the  respective  chil- 
dren were  half  angels,  when  they  were  noth- 
ing of  the  sort.  For  had  they  been,  their 
parents  would  not  have  taken  these  useless, 
even  harmful,  pains." 

Now  we  were  at  the  gate.  We  had  no 
sooner  stopped,  than  the  gatekeeper,  who 
knew  the  coachman,  carriage,  and  horses  well, 
rushed  out  and  started  turning  the  wheel  of 
compliments  with  almost  the  very  words 
which  I  had  predicted.  As  none  of  us  could 
help  smiling,  I  gave  the  conversation  a  joking 
turn  by  saying,  "We  have  nothing  about  us, 
unless  we  ourselves  are  dutiable.  O  yes,  here 
I  have,"  pointing  to  Karl,  "a  little  gosling! 


148        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

So  have  him  appraised!  Meanwhile,  here  is 
the  money!"  I  pressed  a  little  something  into 
his  hand.  We  proceeded  to  the  city,  and  I 
said  earnestly,  "So  all  that  has  cost  only  two 
dimes!" 

The  consequences  of  that  conversation  were 
obviously  good,  but  I  must  make  a  remark 
here. 

One  must  not  imagine  that  such  a  conver- 
sation with  Karl  or  in  his  presence  would 
have  had  the  desired  result  in  itself.  I  am, 
on  the  contrary,  convinced  that  without  a  pre- 
vious long,  careful  education  of  mind  and 
heart;  without  repeated  and  continuous  pa- 
ternal efforts;  without  the  aid  of  our  excellent 
friends;  without  deep-seated  moral  and  pious 
motives,  all  that  attempt  would  not  have  suc- 
ceeded in  penetrating  the  hardened  shell,  and 
would  have  produced  weak,  effaceable  im- 
pressions upon  the  intellect  and  the  heart.  It 
is  about  the  same  as  with  a  wagon  whose 
freight  is  calculated  for  three  horses.  If  only 
one  were  hitched,  it  would  work  itself  to 
death  without  moving  the  wagon  an  inch.  To 
make  it  move,  and  move  with  ease,  all  three 
horses  must  be  employed.  Then  it  is  sure  to 
travel  well. 


Guarding  Against  Flattery  149 

Since  many  people  are  convinced  that  Karl 
has  always  been  perfect;  that  he  could  not 
perceive  any  faults  or  mistakes  in  himself; 
that  he  must  have  become  conscious  of  being 
far  in  advance  of  other  children;  and  that 
that  must  have  driven  him  to  pride  and  van- 
ity, I  shall  remind  them  of  what  has  been 
mentioned  before.  We  frequently  referred 
in  his  presence  to  what  he  would  have  turned 
out  to  be,  if  he  had  grown  up  without  careful 
training  and  instruction,  and  what  many  a 
child  would  have  developed  into,  if  he  had 
been  brought  to  our  house  at  his  birth,  and 
we  had  accepted  and  educated  him  as  our  own 
child.  We  also  explained  to  Karl  how  much 
more  advanced  in  every  respect  he  would  be, 
if  he  had  always  been  attentive  and  industri- 
ous. But  he  knew  only  too  well,  how  often 
he  had  failed  in  one  respect  or  other.  His 
memory  and  his  "Book  of  Conduct"  told  him 
that. 

If,  during  such  a  talk,  I  should  happen  to 
see  a  shepherd  boy,  who  had  to  pasture  the 
cattle,  instead  of  being  at  school — and  I  took 
care  to  arrange  our  walk  in  such  a  way  as  to 
see  him — I  would  say,  with  deeply  felt  pity, 
"The  poor  boy  I    He  should  now  be  in  school 


1^0       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

learning  something,  but  he  must  pasture  cattle 
in  order  to  earn  a  living,  for  his  father  has 
nine  children  and  is  too  poor  to  be  able  to 
feed  him,  if  he  does  not  take  the  place  of  a 
hired  hand.  You  know,  my  son,  how  cleverly 
this  boy  talks!  What  could  not  have  been 
made  of  him,  if  he  had  been  properly  brought 
up!"  Then  I  spoke  to  the  shepherd  boy,  and 
directed  his  attention  to  how  much  he  was 
losing  by  not  going  more  frequently  to  school, 
and  urged  upon  him  to  attend  school  more 
regularly  in  winter. 

That  never  missed  its  aim.  Karl's  heart 
was  sincerely  moved  to  pity,  and  his  intellect 
saw  clearly  that  he  owed  the  little  he  was  and 
knew,  not  to  himself,  but  to  his  parents. 

How  would  it  have  been  possible  to  save 
him  from  the  venom  of  flattery  without  such 
precautionary  measures?  I  dare  say,  but  few 
children  grow  up  with  as  much  flattery  as  has 
been  showered  upon  him,  yet,  thank  Heaven, 
it  has  caused  him  no  harm,  as  all  know  who 
are  more  closely  acquainted  with  him. 

"He  must  be  proud,"  said  the  most  sensible 
and  excellent  Konsistorialrath  Dr.  Senf,  of 
Halle,  before  he  knew  him.  "He  must  be!" 
he  said  again  and  again,  "for  with  his  ad- 


Guarding  Against  Flattery  151 

vantages  it  is  against  human  nature  not  to  be 
proud!"  I  kept  repeating,  "No,  he  is  not!" 
"He  must  be,"  he  finally  said,  with  emphasis, 
"or  he  is  a  supernatural  being."  I  kept  silent, 
for  to  that  no  answer  could  be  given.  "You 
shall  see  him,"  I  retorted  after  a  while. 

I  brought  the  boy  to  him  soon  afterward. 
He  immediately  fondled  him  with  much  ten- 
derness, had  a  long  talk  with  him,  spoke  ever 
in  a  more  fatherly  and  intimate  way  to  him, 
and  finally  turned  to  me  and  said,  "No,  he  is 
not  proud!  God  knows  how  you  have  man- 
aged it!"  After  I  had  sent  Karl  out,  I  gave 
Dr.  Senf  an  account  of  the  above-mentioned 
method.  He  nodded  friendly  assent  from 
time  to  time,  and  finished  by  saying: 

"Yes,  it  is  possible  to  do  so  in  that  manner! 
I  now  believe  myself  that  he  is  not  proud  and 
will  never  become  proud.  For  if,  with  these 
convictions,  he  attains  still  greater  reasoning 
power,  he  will  become  what  is  called  wise. 
And  a  truly  reasoning,  wise  man  cannot  be 
proud." 

I  pass  for  the  present  over  those  innumer- 
able perplexities  which  were  caused  to  me  by 
wealthy  and  distinguished  people  of  both 
sexes,  by  regents,  their  wives,  their  children. 


152        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

their  entourage;  and  will  mention  but  one  oc- 
currence, at  Goettingen,  because  it  best  illus- 
trates my  anxiety  and  my  way  of  acting  under 
such  conditions. 

A  director  of  schools  at  N.,  named  H.,  was 
visiting  his  relatives  at  Goettingen.  He  had 
heard  and  read  a  great  deal  about  Karl,  and 
he  had  learned  still  more,  after  inquiries  at 
Goettingen,  especially  from  his  relatives  who 
were  more  closely  acquainted  with  us.  He 
therefore  requested  them  to  invite  us  to  their 
home  when  he  was  with  them,  and  to  ar- 
range it  in  such  a  way  that  he  could  examine 
Karl.  They  readily  promised  to  do  this,  as 
they  knew  I  should  have  no  objections. 

We  accepted  the  invitation  and  granted  the 
request  about  the  examination.  H.  in  person 
had  repeated  the  latter  to  me,  adding  that  he 
would  gladly  examine  my  son  in  the  languages 
and  the  various  sciences,  but  preferably  in 
mathematics,  because  that  was  his  favorite 
subject.  I  granted  him  everything,  making, 
as  with  everybody  else,  the  one  condition  that 
he  would  not  praise  the  boy,  or  would  praise 
him  only  moderately,  if  he  should  be  satisfied 
with  his  knowledge. 

"You  may  love  him,"  I  added,  half  in  jest, 


Guarding  'Against  Flattery  153 

"as  much  as  you  wish,  but  you  must  not  praise 
him!  But  you  are  yourself  a  father  and  edu- 
cator. My  request  is  therefore  not  necessary 
with  you,  and  I  beg  your  pardon  for  it." 

Karl,  whom  we  had  purposely  sent  out, 
came  in.  H.  was  soon  occupied  with  him, 
and  his  talk  with  him  quickly  passed  into  a 
formal  examination. 

As  I  shall  have  to  speak  later  in  regard  to 
such  tests  of  his  knowledge,  I  shall  merely 
remark  that  H.  was  perfectly  satisfied  with 
him,  that  he  fondled  Karl  in  a  fatherly  way, 
but  judiciously  avoided  nearly  all  praise.  I 
kept  a  watch  upon  him,  and  so  was  fairly  easy 
in  mind.  Finally  he  passed  over  to  mathe- 
matics and  proposed  to  Karl  several  problems 
in  geometry,  etc.  Karl  answered  the  questions 
with  ease,  and  frequently  in  more  than  one 
way.  He  also  put  himself  at  H.'s  standpoint, 
accepted  his  methods  of  proof,  and,  without 
being  at  all  familiar  with  it,  applied  it  to  H.'s 
full  satisfaction. 

Here  a  few  expressions  of  praise  escaped 
him  that  I  thought  were  too  strong.  I,  there- 
fore, looked  more  sharply  at  him,  and  he  un- 
derstood me  and  kept  silent. 

But  the  examiner  and  the  examinee  entered 


154        ^^^  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

the  subject  more  deeply,  and  as  they  grew  to 
consider  each  other  as  friends  who  loved  and 
discussed  the  same  science,  they  soon  lost 
themselves  in  higher  mathematics,  even  in 
such  branches  as  were  not  entirely  familiar 
to  H. 

"Oh,  you  know  more  of  this  than  I!" 
escaped  his  lips,  in  his  pleased  surprise.  I 
was  frightened,  but  I  managed  to  sound  a 
warning  note. 

"My  son  attended  the  mathematical  lec- 
tures last  half-year,"  I  said,  "and  so  he  has 
not  forgotten  it  yet." 

H.  understood  me,  and  held  himself  in. 
After  a  while  he  said  to  Karl : 

"Now  I  will  close  by  laying  before  you 
a  proposition  over  which  the  great  Euler 
brooded  in  vain  for  three  days.  I  presume 
that  you  have  not  heard  of  it." 

I  was  beginning  to  feel  anxious,  in  case 
Karl  should  actually  solve  it,  but  did  not  dare 
to  let  this  be  noticed,  because  H.,'who  did  not 
know  me  intimately,  might  have  considered  it 
as  a  sign  of  fatherly  pride.  And  if  I  should 
have  interrupted  the  conversation — which  I 
was  inclined  to  do — he  might  have  thought 
that  I  was  afraid  Karl  could  not  solve  it,  and 


Guarding  Against  Flattery  155 

that  I,  from  pride,  was  ashamed  because  he 
could  not.  H.  then  went  on  to  propound  the 
problem. 

"A  peasant,"  said  he,  "had  a  field  of  this 
shape: 


"When  he  was  near  death,  he  called  his 
three  sons  and  directed  them  so  to  divide  the 
field  that  each  should  obtain  an  equal  share, 
each  of  these  to  be  similar  to  the  whole  field. 

"Have  you  had  this  proposition,  or  have 
you  read  about  it?"  he  asked  Karl  once  more, 
with  emphasis. 

Karl  answered  "Nol"  and  I  testified  to  it, 
because  I  had  always  shared  his  mathematical 
instruction  with  him. 

Then  we  gave  him  time  for  reflection,  and 
H.,  talking  with  me  in  the  back  of  the  room, 
declared  that  it  would  certainly  be  impossible 
for  him  to  solve  the  problem.    "I  proposed  it 


156        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

to  him  only  to  show  him  that  he  did  not  know 
everything  yet." 

He  had  hardly  said  more  than  that,  when 
Karl  called  out: 

"I  have  it!" 

"That  is  impossible!"  H.  exclaimed,  in  per- 
plexity. 

"See  for  yourself!"  Karl  said,  as  he  drew 
the  lines  which  he  had  only  sketched  before. 
"These  three  fields  are  equal  to  each  other 
and  similar  to  the  whole  field." 

"You  must  have  known  the  proposition!" 
H.  exclaimed,  with  violence  and  bitter  con- 
tempt. 

Karl  felt  deeply  ashamed,  and  repeated 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  "No!" 

I  could  not  remain  silent.  I  gave  him  the 
most  solemn  assurances  that  Karl  had  not 
heard  of  it  before,  and  especially  that  Karl 
would  not  be  so  contemptible  as  to  deny  any- 
thing of  the  sort,  or  to  stick  to  a  lie  impu- 
dently. 

"Then  he  must  be  greater  than  the  great 
Euler  himself!"  H.  answered,  still  in  doubt, 
and  staring  at  Karl. 

I  anxiously  called  out  from  the  back  of  the 
room,  where  I  stood,  "Not  at  all!    For  you,  as 


Guarding  'Against  Flattery  157 

an  experienced  man,  must  know,"  I  said, 
pinching  his  hand,  and  then  laughing,  "that 
even  blind  pigeons  sometimes  find  peas." 

H.  understood  me,  and  replied,  distract- 
edly, "Of  course,  indeed!"  and  immediately 
turning  to  me,  he  said  in  a  whisper,  "Only  in 
this  way  have  you  been  able  so  to  educate 
a  son  as  to  leave  him  exceedingly  modest 
with  such  knowledge." 

But  Karl  had  in  the  meanwhile  gotten  up 
a  merry  conversation  with  his  neighbor  on  an 
entirely  different  subject,  and  that,  justly, 
pleased  H.  most  of  all. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

Karl's  Toys  and  the  First  Steps  in  His 
Mental  Education 

I  AM  convinced  that  we  cannot  begin  too  early 
to  play  with  a  child,  and  that  we  may  turn 
nearly  all  objects  of  life  into  toys  of  great 
educational  value,  if  we  only  go  about  it  in 
the  right  way. 

Playing  with  the  little  child  should  be  an 
easy,  pleasing  occupation,  with  which  to 
awaken,  guide,  and  strengthen  his  dormant 
powers.  One  should  begin  with  the  coarsest, 
most  sensuous  objects,  for  the  finer  ones  would 
as  yet  be  lost  on  the  child. 

For  example,  we  held  our  fingers  close  to 
Karl's  eyes,  and  moved  them,  now  singly,  now 
several  at  a  time.  He  soon  noticed  them,  and 
grabbed  at  them,  but  in  the  beginning  usually 
missed  them.  We  did  not  mind  that,  but 
brought  our  hand  nearer  to  his,  or  his  nearer 
to  ours.  He  seized  it,  happy  to  have  suc- 
ceeded, and  drew  a  finger  into  his  mouth  and 

158 


Toys  and  First  Steps  in  Education    159 

sucked  it.  Then  we  pronounced  the  word 
"finger"  slowly,  distinctly,  and  repeatedly,  so 
that  the  unreasoning  being  might  have  the 
time  to  hear  it  clearly  and  to  conceive  it. 
After  a  few  minutes  we  withdrew  our  finger 
from  his  mouth,  and  held  it  once  more  before 
his  eyes,  first  one,  saying,  "One  finger,"  then 
two,  in  the  same  way  saying,  "Two  fingers," 
and  so  forth. 

If  he  grabbed  the  thumb,  we  should  have 
said,  as  above,  "Thumb."  At  first,  however, 
we  avoided  his  getting  hold  of  it,  in  order  not 
to  confuse  the  still  indescribable  short-sighted- 
ness of  his  intellect.  When  he  actually  knew 
the  fingers,  we  gave  him  the  thumb,  pro- 
nouncing the  word  at  the  same  time.  We 
slowly  differentiated  the  pointer,  the  middle 
finger,  the  little  finger.  In  every  case  the 
road  was  properly  prepared,  and  the  words 
were  enunciated  loudly,  clearly,  slowly,  and 
repeatedly. 

Later  on  we  put  the  fingers  to  some  use 
before  his  eyes,  from  mere  moving  to  the 
raising  of  his  hand  or  an  object,  and  all  the 
time  did  and  spoke  as  above. 

For  his  hearing  we  made  use  perhaps  of 
two  smooth  keys  which  we  struck  together 


i6o       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

before  Karl's  eyes  and  ears  alternately,  enun- 
ciating the  word  "Key."  If  he  at  last  seized 
it,  he  carried  it  to  his  mouth,  and  we  by  de- 
grees proceeded  farther,  holding  more  keys 
before  him  and  speaking,  as  mentioned  above. 

It  will  be  easily  observed  that  with  pru- 
dence and  care  one  may  thus  turn  any  object 
into  a  toy,  and  I  am  convinced  that  one  does 
much  better  to  follow  this  course  than  to  buy 
a  mass  of  toys  for  the  child  and  leave  him  to 
an  arbitrary  use  of  them,  without  any  pru- 
dent guidance.  The  unreasoning  little  people 
may  only  hurt  themselves  with  them,  and 
learn  nothing;  they  pass  their  time  half  sense- 
lessly, become  tired,  irritable,  stubborn,  and 
throw  their  toys  away,  or  pound  at  them;  in 
short,  they  become  accustomed  to  destructive- 
ness,  as  one,  alas,  finds  only  too  often. 

This  habit  of  destruction  is  so  bad,  that  I 
regretfully  reflect  upon  the  fact  that  it  clings 
to  man  for  a  long  time,  frequently  misguides 
him,  and  makes  it  hard  for  him  to  rid  him- 
self of  it.  Observant  parents  will  understand 
me,  for  they  must  have  noticed  what  a  delete- 
rious influence  the  destruction  habit  has  on  the 
intellectual  conceptions,  as  well  as  on  the  sen- 
timents of  children. 


Toys  and  First  Steps  in  Education    i6i 

The  child  vents  his  displeasure, — itself 
usually  a  result  of  ennui, — on  his  toys;  later 
on,  he  vents  it  on  what  he  can  reach;  at  last 
also  on  his  animal  and  human  surroundings. 
Anybody  can  see  what  sad  consequences  this 
must  have. 

I  should  become  too  prolix  if  I  were  to 
mention  and  explain  our  educational  methods 
in  detail.  A  few  hints  are  all  that  is  needed. 
Some  I  have  already  given,  and  I  will  give 
a  few  more  now. 

As  soon  as  Karl  had  reached  a  certain  de- 
gree of  perception,  we  proceeded  to  another 
stage  in  the  enlargement  of  his  understanding. 
After  a  while,  for  example,  we  brought  him  a 
twig,  and  said,  "A  twig,"  then  we  brought  a 
leaf  from  it,  and  holding  it  before  his  eyes, 
we  said  "A  leaf."  We  alternated  twig  and 
leaf  several  times,  giving  the  little  fellow  time 
to  collect  his  senses,  and  every  time  said 
loudly,  clearly,  and  slowly,  "A  twig,  a  leaf." 
By  degrees  we  plucked  a  few  more  leaves 
from  the  twig,  saying,  "One  more  leaf,  one 
more  leaf."  Then  we  put  two  leaves  before 
him,  saying,  "See,  Karll  Two  leaves  1"  then 
"Three  leaves!"  etc. 

At  other  times  we  pointed  to  the  twig, 


i62       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

which  still  had  a  few  leaves  upon  it,  saying, 
with  clear  enunciation  and  much  emphasis, 
"One  leaf,  two  leaf,"  and  quickly  correcting 
ourselves,  "Two  leaves,"  at  last,  with  the  ex- 
pression of  surprise,  "Many  leaves!" 

When  the  twig  was  slowly  bared  of  all 
leaves,  we  switched  it  in  the  air,  and  said,  "A 
switch  I" 

"See,  Karl!  Now  it  is  a  switch!  Now  the 
leaves  are  all  gone,"  pointing  to  them,  "they 
are  pulled  off,  and  now  it  is  not  a  twig,  now 
it  is  a  switch!" 

After  a  while  again  we  would  say,  "I  cut 
the  twig  from  a  tree.  Come,  and  I  will  show 
you  where  I  cut  it  off  I"  Then  we  took  him 
in  our  arms,  or  by  his  hand,  and  led  him  to 
the  tree,  from  which  we  had  cut  the  twig, 
so  low  down  that  he  could  easily  observe  it. 
We  fitted  on  the  twig,  and  later  the  switch, 
and  said,  slowly,  clearly,  and  distinctly,  "Do 
you  see?  Here  I  cut  it  from  the  tree,"  point- 
ing meanwhile  to  the  whole  tree.  "This  is  the 
way  it  stuck  to  the  tree  before." 

Then  I  would,  perhaps,  say,  "Shall  I  cut 
off  another  twig?" 

He  was  sure  to  answer,  "Yes!" 

Now,  purposely  of  course,  I  would  look 


Toys  and  First  Steps  in  Education    163 

in  vain  for  a  knife  in  all  my  pockets,  re- 
peatedly saying,  "I  have  no  knife  about  me, 
and  without  a  knife  I  cannot  cut  the  twig 
from  the  tree."  After  a  few  moments :  "Wait, 
my  child!  I  will  fetch  a  knife  1" 

After  I  had  fetched  it,  I  said,  pointing  to 
it,  "Here  I  have  a  knife!  Now  I  can  cut  a 
twig  with  it  from  the  tree." 

I  did  so,  significantly  raised  the  twig,  and 
said:  "Now,  the  twig  is  cut  off  the  tree!"  and 
after  a  while,  "See,  Karl,"  fitting  the  twig 
once  more  to  the  tree,  "here  the  twig  was  at- 
tached to  the  tree."  Then,  holding  it  up,  to- 
gether with  the  one  cut  off  before,  "Now  we 
have  two  twigs !" 

At  first  we  used  to  say,  "Now  we  have  one 
twig,  and  one  twig  more,"  pointing  all  the 
time  to  a  twig,  "so  now  we  have  two  twigs." 

Only  later  we  directed  his  attention  to  the 
various  sizes  of  trees.  We  would,  for  exam- 
ple, first  point  to  a  dwarfed  tree,  saying,  "This 
tree  is  small!"  then  to  a  young  tree  with 
a  tall  trunk,  saying,  "This  tree  is  taller," 
finally  to  an  old,  tall  tree,  saying,  "This 
tree  is  very  tall."  Everything  was  enun- 
ciated with  the  proper  intonation  and  with 
the   appropriate   expression   and   motion   of 


164       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

the  hands.  Thus  we  taught  him  as  play,  en- 
tertainment, and  pastime,  that  certain  trees 
(this  one  here,  that  one  there)  bore  beautiful 
blossoms  and  good-tasting  fruits  while  other 
trees  did  not. 

If,  by  chance,  it  happened  to  be  an  oak,  I 
would  say,  as  though  wishing  to  correct  an 
error: 

"That  is  an  oak!  I  have  not  told  you  right, 
for  the  oaks  bear  also  fruit,  only  we,  men, 
cannot  eat  it.  Pigs  like  it  very  much.  You 
shall  see  for  yourself!" 

If  acorns  could  be  found,  we  picked  up  a 
few,  giving  them  to  Karl  to  take  along  and 
throw  to  our  pig.  If  it  was  before  acorn 
time,  I  would  hunt  for  them  for  a  while,  then 
act  as  though  I  were  deep  in  thought,  and 
finally  say: 

"Oh,  yes,  I  happen  to  think,  there  are  no 
ripe  acorns  now.  Just  look  up  there  in  the 
tree  I  There  are  acorns  there!  But  they  are 
still  very  small.  In  a  few  weeks  they  will  be 
larger.  Perhaps  a  few  of  them  will  then  fall 
down.  We  will  pick  them  up  then  and  take 
them  with  us." 

In  a  similar  manner  we  proceeded  with  a 
thousand  objects  all  about  us;  for  example, 
with  a  rose. 


Toys  and  First  Steps  in  Education    165 

We  would  break  off  a  branch  with  several 
leaves,  a  few  buds,  a  half-opened  and  a  fully- 
opened  rose,  and  would  lay  the  whole  before 
him  with  the  words,  "Here  you  have  a  twig 
off  a  rose-bush !"  Then  we  took  everything  up 
in  succession:  twig,  leaves,  stems,  thorns 
(larger,  smaller,  straight,  crooked),  hairs, 
calyx,  flower,  colored  leaves,  outer,  inner, 
large,  small,  smooth,  curly,  curved,  folded, 
white,  pink,  red;  the  anthers,  stamens,  pollen, 
the  closed  bud  (which  we  finally  opened  up), 
the  half-opened,  etc.  Among  other  things, 
toward  the  end,  we  referred  to  the  smell, 
which  was  at  once  observed  and  compared 
with  that  of  other  flowers  and  plants. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  most  ordinary 
surroundings  furnish  a  field  for  play  and  in- 
struction, which  is  more  than  large  and  rich 
enough  to  give  the  child  a  suflScicnt  choice 
of  mental  food  for  the  first  five  or  six  years 
of  his  life. 

I  must  remark  here  that  whoever  learns  in 
this  manner  to  hear,  see,  feel,  smell,  taste,  will 
certainly  learn  it  all  in  the  proper  way,  gain- 
ing therewith  so  much  mental  power  that  also 
his  spiritual  hearing,  seeing,  and  feeling,  as 
well  as  careful  observation  and  taste  will  be 
ennobled  by  it  in  a  startling  manner. 


1 66       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

The  above-mentioned  method  was  of  impor- 
tance, too,  in  regard  to  the  child's  morality.  If 
Karl  was  dissatisfied  or  crying,  because  he 
could  not  have  his  way,  we  only  had  to  say, 
"Just  see  how  queer  this  is  I"  showing  him 
something  that  was  new  to  him,  in  order  to 
turn  his  attention  away  upon  it.  He  forgot 
his  ill  temper,  and  was  once  more  the  good, 
merry  child.  He  never  went  so  far  as  to  bawl 
and  bellow. 

I  hardly  ever  bought  toys,  in  the  ordinary 
sense  of  the  word.  This  expense  I  was  spared, 
because  everything  was  a  plaything  to  him. 

The  best  opportunity  was  furnished  by  a 
fairly  large  space  in  front  of  my  house,  which 
I  had  covered  two  feet  deep  with  clear  pebbles, 
and  faced  in  with  flowers,  blooming  shrubs, 
and  trees.  This  spot  was  always  dry,  even 
after  days  of  rain.  After  an  hour's  cessation, 
the  rain-water  disappeared  between  the  peb- 
bles, and  the  place  was  again  quite  dry  and 
healthy. 

Here  and  in  the  garden,  when  it  was  not 
damp,  Karl  lived  and  worked  amid  fair  Na- 
ture. At  first  his  attention  was  directed  to  all 
the  details  around  him.  Later  on  he  observed 
them  himself,  and  showed  them  to  us,  partly 


Toys  and  First  Steps  in  Education    167 

with  the  desire  of  instructing  us,  and  partly 
in  order  to  elicit  instruction  from  us. 

Whenever  I,  on  account  of  other  business, 
was  not  able  to  be  with  him,  my  wife  was  near 
by.  Whenever  she  had  to  attend  to  some 
housework  or  to  the  garden,  he  stood,  sat,  or 
walked  with  her,  and  both  discussed  what 
had  been  done,  what  was  being  done,  or  what 
still  had  to  be  done. 

And  he  not  only  had  the  permission  openly 
to  tell  us  his  opinion  pro  and  con, — of  course, 
with  due  modesty, — but  we  urged  him  on  to 
do  so.  We  sometimes  would  purposely  make 
small  mistakes  or  overlook  something,  and 
merrily  berated  him,  if  he  did  not  notice  our 
faults. 

Every  little  work  gave  us  chances  for  this, 
the  cutting  of  the  asparagus,  picking  of  roses 
or  fruit,  and  so  forth.  If  we  had  found  some 
good  reason  for  not  doing  a  certain  thing,  and 
he  reminded  us  of  it,  as  of  something  we 
might  have  forgotten  or  overlooked,  we  again 
made  good-natured  fun  of  him,  saying,  "O 
you  foolish  boyl  Do  you  not  understand  that 
I  did  not  do  it  for  such  and  such  a  reason?" 

Such  discussions  sufficiently  guarded  him 
against  the  presumption, — for  which  occasions 


l68        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

often  presented  themselves, — of  knowing  bet- 
ter than  we. 

One  of  his  earliest  games  was  with  sand. 
I  bought  him  for  the  purpose  a  little  table  and 
chair,  when  he  was  about  two  years  old.  I 
still  have  them,  and  they  will  remain  dear  to 
me  all  my  life,  because  on  that  chair  and  at 
that  table  he  advanced  from  the  playing  with 
sand  to  a  certificate  of  perfect  maturity  for  the 
university. 

Even  into  the  common  and  neglected  play- 
ing with  sand  we  put  much  thought  and  rea- 
son. In  educating  a  second  child  we  would 
arrange  many  a  thing  to  even  better  purpose. 
Yet  I  believe  that  a  hint  of  what  we  did  will 
do  no  harm.  Mothers  who  will  take  the  trou- 
ble, will  be  able  to  surpass  us.  So  much  the 
better! 

Since  occupations  of  this  kind  chiefly  fall 
upon  mothers,  because  pressing  work  keeps 
the  father  for  hours  at  the  desk,  etc.,  I  will  let 
my  wife  tell  what  she  did  and  how  she  pro- 
ceeded in  this  matter. 

The  travel  game,  of  which  she  will  also  re- 
port a  specimen,  will  especially  entertain  and 
interest  such  children  as  have  already  trav- 
eled.   And  I  wish  with  my  whole  soul  that 


Toys  and  First  Steps  in  Education    169 

all  children  might  do  so,  because  nothing  has 
such  a  deep  and  lasting  influence  as  the  fre- 
quent change  of  domicile  and  daily  surround- 
ings, especially  if  later  one  returns  to  the  place 
where  one  abides.  One  then  sees,  hears,  ob- 
serves, thinks,  judges,  and  concludes  quite 
differently  than  before. 

If  such  journeys  are  frequently  and  as  ob- 
jectively as  possible  brought  back  to  memory 
by  a  playful  imitation,  so  much  the  better.  In 
this  way  the  child  remembers  a  hundred 
things  and  occurrences,  which  otherwise  it 
would  soon  forget.  It  thus  judges  and  com- 
pares them  with  greater  acuteness. 

Even  very  small  journeys  are  strikingly 
useful,  especially  if  they  have  been  properly 
arranged  and  repeated.  The  rich  in  this  re- 
spect are  far  better  served  than  the  poor.  But 
let  me  now  give  his  mother's  account  of  some 
of  her  dealings  with  our  child: 

"Karl  had  a  number  of  small  kitchen-uten- 
sils for  toys.  As  he  was  a  great  deal  with  me 
in  the  kitchen,  and  saw  me  prepare  the  dishes, 
I  explaining  everything  to  him,  he  was  very 
much  attracted  by  this  occupation  and  began, 
at  first  in  play,  to  imitate  it.  I  soon  helped 
him  with  it,  guided  him,  and  used  the  play, 


lyo       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

in  order  to  give  him  better  instruction  in  vari- 
ous things.  Then  we  bought  him  larger  and 
smaller  vessels  in  which  he,  in  the  manner  of 
our  larder,  kept  his  sand  supplies.  In  one  of 
the  vessels  he  called  the  sand  flour,  in  another 
rice,  meal,  salt,  milk,  etc. 

"When  the  parts  were  distributed,  he  could 
choose  whether  he  wanted  to  be  mother  or 
cook.  If  he  represented  the  mother,  he  could 
order  what  he  wanted  to  be  cooked.  I  then 
asked  a  number  of  questions,  and  if  he  could 
not  properly  answer  them,  he  lost  his  authority 
and  became  cook.  Then  I  commanded,  and  I 
taught  him  what  belonged  to  this  dish  or  to 
that.  For  example,  he  had  to  bring  soup- 
greens  from  the  garden.  If,  as  in  the  begin- 
ning was  often  the  case,  he  brought  the  wrong 
greens,  or  could  not  remember  a  thing  that 
he  had  been  told  several  times,  he  was  dis- 
missed, after  getting  the  reasons  for  such  a 
dismissal. 

"After  that  he  could  not  so  soon  be  cook 
again,  but  had  to  be  satisfied  to  be  a  kitchen 
maid. 

"We  frequently  played  a  kind  of  drama  to- 
gether, which  gave  him  correct  ideas  about 
many  circumstances  of  life. 


Toys  and  First  Steps  in  Education    171 

"For  example,  he  was  mother  and  I  the 
child.  Then  he  gave  his  commands,  which  I 
at  times  carried  out  wrongly  or  not  at  all.  If 
he  missed  noticing  that,  he  lost  his  authority. 
But  it  was  not  often  that  he  failed  to  see  my 
pretended  disobedience.  On  the  contrary,  he 
would  make  earnest  and  kind  remonstrances. 
I  promised  I  would  improve,  begged  to  be 
pardoned,  but  after  a  while  started  in  again 
to  do  what  I  had  been  forbidden.  If  he  no- 
ticed it,  his  droll  earnestness  caused  me  much 
pleasure.  He  threatened  with  severity,  and 
occasionally  would  say,  *Yes,  I  see,  you  will 
not  turn  out  welll  I  cannot  love  you  any 
longer,  poor  mother  that  I  ami' 

"At  times  he  was  teacher  and  I  the  child. 
I  purposely  committed  the  same  mistakes  and 
transgressions  of  which  he  was  guilty.  He 
noticed  them  almost  every  time,  and  corrected 
and  scolded  me.  In  this  way  he  felt  most  sen- 
sibly the  disadvantages  of  his  own  mistakes, 
and  learned  how  to  avoid  them.  I  could  best 
cure  him  of  his  misdemeanors  by  committing 
them  myself  when  he  represented  me. 

"If  he  had  been  particularly  good  and 
bright,  he  was  allowed  to  represent  father. 
He  then  conversed  with  me,  his  wife,  on  all 


172        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

kinds  of  subjects,  even  of  our  son  and  his  edu- 
cation, when  he  would  make  the  most  start- 
ling observations.  Now  and  then  I  told  him 
that  I  still  noticed  many  faults  in  Karl,  which 
I  adduced  one  by  one.  He  consoled  me,  and 
generally  concluded  with  the  words,  'Do  not 
worry,  my  dear!  Karl  will  turn  out  all  right 
yet!' 

"I  frequently  asked  his  advice  about  how  I 
could  cure  the  child  of  this  or  that,  and  he 
proposed  all  kinds  of  appropriate  means. 
But  when  I  replied  to  him,  that  I  had  already 
used  them  all,  he  answered  emphatically. 
Well,  if  all  that  did  not  do  any  good,  give 
him  a  spanking,  so  that  he  may  think  of  it.' 

"At  other  times  we  played  the  travel  game. 
He  had  to  tell  me  whither  he  was  going  to 
travel,  what  he  wished  to  see  on  his  journey, 
and  whom  he  would  visit.  At  the  same  time 
he  mentioned  by  name  the  places  through 
which  he  was  traveling.  These  were  indi- 
cated, in  the  winter  in  the  room,  in  the  sum- 
mer in  the  garden,  by  some  special  object. 
Thus,  for  example,  if  he  was  traveling  to 
Magdeburg,  the  chest  of  drawers  represented 
Halle,  the  table — Kiennern,  a  chair — Bern- 
burg,  and  the  sofa — Magdeburg.    I,  not  far 


Toys  and  First  Steps  in  Education    173 

away  from  it,  seated  on  a  chair,  represented 
Pastor  Glaubitz  at  Klein-Ottersleben,  near 
Magdeburg. 

"At  first  Karl  made  all  the  preparations 
for  the  journey,  asking  himself,  for  example, 
if  he  had  taken  all  the  necessary  things  with 
him,  after  which  he  departed  from  the  stove, 
which  stood  for  our  home  village  of  Lochau. 
Now  he  walked,  now  he  rode  on  his  hobby- 
horse, according  to  whether  he,  during  his 
real  journey,  had  found  the  road  dry  or  mud- 
dy. 

"If  he  fell  in  with  several  traveling  com- 
panions, as  had  actually  happened  on  the 
journey,  he  rode  with  them  in  his  wagon. 

"The  time  which  he  used  for  walking,  rid- 
ing, or  driving,  to  the  next  station,  was  in 
every  case  proportioned  to  the  distances  of 
the  places,  the  good  or  bad  roads,  the  kinds  of 
business  or  entertainments  on  the  way,  when  I, 
naturally,  would  make  remarks  if  he  seemed  to 
arrive  too  early  or  too  late.  He  tried  to  cor- 
rect me,  and  so  forth. 

"At  Halle  he  visited  Professor  W.,  with 
whom  he  held  a  conversation.  On  the  way  to 
Koennern  he  stopped  at  an  inn,  ordered  a 
sandwich  and  a  glass  of  water,  paid  for  it 


174       ^^^  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

with  slices  of  a  turnip,  then  arrived  at  Koen- 
nern,  where  he  visited  the  family  H.,  to  stay 
there  over  night. 

"The  next  dinner  he  ate  at  Bernburg,  where 
he  called  on  several  families.  Then,  an  op- 
portunity offering  itself,  he  traveled  to 
Magdeburg,  and  finally  reached  Klein-Otters- 
leben,  where  he  told  me,  his  friend  Glaubitz, 
every  noteworthy  event  of  his  journey.  Such 
journeys  were  undertaken  in  every  direction. 

"If  he  had  nothing  worth  while  to  tell,  I 
would  laughingly  say: 

'Send  Peter  through  the  world  a-wandering — 
What  good  it  does?     He  can't  recall  a  thing!' 

"Then  I  was  the  traveler,  when  I  told  him 
a  great  many  interesting  things  from  the  towns 
which  we  had  both  visited  together.  Thus 
we  varied  the  game  in  every  imaginable  way. 

"Now  and  then  we  both  sat  down  at  the 
table.  I  took  the  slate,  and  he  was  allowed  to 
tell  me  what  he  wanted  me  to  draw  on  it.  *A 
manl'  would  be  the  first  thing  he  would  call 
for.  What  next?'  'A  house!'  Then  a  cat, 
a  tree,  a  dog,  a  child,  and  a  table.  When  ev- 
erything was  put  on  the  slate  according  to  his 


Toys  and  First  Steps  in  Education    175 

wish,  he  wanted  to  know  what  the  man's, 
child's,  and  dog's  names  were,  and  what  they 
were  doing  there.  I  would  then  compose  a 
story  like  this: 

"  'The  man's  name,  my  child,  is  Peter 
Schultz,  and  he  has  just  had  this  house  built 
for  himself.  He  used  to  be  very  poor,  but  he 
worked  industriously  and  was  saving.  In  this 
way  he  earned  so  much  money  that  he  was 
able  to  have  the  house  built.  Then  he  mar- 
ried a  good,  industrious  girl,  and  after  a  while 
a  child  was  born  to  his  wife,  and  his  name  is 
August.  His  mother  is  just  now  in  the  kitch- 
en, getting  the  dinner  ready.  Do  you  see  the 
chimney  smoking?  Just  a  while  ago  she 
called  her  husband,  asking  him,  since  he  was 
done  with  his  work,  to  fetch  August,  who  was 
playing  under  a  tree,  for  dinner  was  ready. 
He  might  also  bring  in  the  dog  and  the  cat, 
to  get  their  dinner  too.  The  good  father  did 
so,  and  as  the  weather  was  fine,  he  told  mother, 
she  might  serve  dinner  in  the  garden,  and  so 
he  brought  the  table  out.'  As  a  rule,  he  would 
repeat  the  story  to  his  father  at  table,  express- 
ing, as  he  had  already  done  to  me,  his  mis- 
givings about  this  or  that,  especially  about  the 
moral  and  spiritual  conduct  of  the  people  of 


176        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

the  tale,  more  particularly  the  children,  we 
contradicting  or  agreeing  with  him." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  even  poor  people 
can  use  this  method  with  all  kinds  of  changes 
and  improvements,  in  order  to  give  their 
children  a  good  time  and  instruct  them. 

One  of  the  most  profitable  toys  is  a  box  of 
building  blocks.  Under  intelligent  guidance 
such  blocks  keep  children  busy  and  amuse 
them  for  many  years,  and  they  are  able  to 
learn  a  great  deal  by  them.  There  are  differ- 
ent kinds,  some  with  which  to  imitate  wood- 
en buildings,  others  stone  buildings.  If  those 
intended  for  wooden  buildings,  barns,  stables, 
etc.,  were  so  arranged  that  they  could  be  set 
up  in  many  different  ways,  they  would  be  very 
useful,  especially  in  the  country,  where  one 
sees  almost  exclusively  wooden  structures,  for 
the  child  would  be  able  more  easily  to  imitate 
them.  But,  as  a  rule,  only  one  single  house 
can  be  constructed  with  them,  and  the  parts 
have  been  too  carefully  indicated,  so  that  a 
properly  guided  boy,  who  had  been  educated 
to  think  for  himself,  to  seek  and  improve,  soon 
gets  tired  of  them.  Still,  they  are  useful  in 
that  they  give  the  boy  an  objective  idea  of  a 
wooden  structure  and  its  component  parts. 


Toys  and  First  Steps  in  Education    177 

If  one  is  well-to-do  enough  to  buy  several 
of  them,  and,  of  course  with  the  consent  of  the 
boy,  rubs  off  the  numbers  indicating  the  cor- 
responding parts,  their  usefulness  is  much  in- 
creased thereby.  One  could  also  buy  wind- 
mills and  water-mills,  as  well  as  other  imita- 
tions of  important  things  which  the  child  has 
seen,  such  as  sluices,  saltworks,  steam-engines, 
etc.;  but  the  main  condition  should  be  that 
they  could  all  be  taken  to  pieces  and  set  up 
again.  The  directing  numbers  should  also  be 
removed  at  an  early  time. 

If,  in  putting  the  parts  wrongly  together, 
something  should  get  broken,  father  and  child, 
and  later  on  the  child  himself,  should  manage 
to  fix  it,  and  the  child  will  thus  invisibly  be 
led  to  self-help  and  mechanical  work. 

Incomparably  more  important  is  a  box  of 
building-stones  (made  of  wood).  Those  that 
I  bought  were  an  inch  each  way,  some  of  them 
two,  three,  four,  up  to  twelve  inches  long. 
Some  of  them  were  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
square,  and  six,  eight,  or  twelve  inches  long, 
to  be  used  in  building  the  roof,  as  in  ancient 
buildings. 

We  had,  besides,  keystones  and  obliquely 
cut  stones,  so  that  we  could  build  a  stone 


178        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

bridge  with  approaches.  Nor  was  there  any 
lack  of  stones  for  a  breastwork. 

With  these  Karl  built  everything,  at  first 
with  my  aid  or  the  aid  of  his  mother,  then  by 
himself:  large  and  small  houses,  palaces  (par- 
ticularly such  as  he  had  seen),  outhouses, 
barns,  stables,  bridges,  churches,  towers, 
fences,  arbors,  etc.  Every  building  was  pro- 
vided with  men,  cattle,  or  utensils;  the  barns 
with  corn  or  straw,  the  lofts  with  hay,  the 
woodhouse  with  wood,  the  cellar  and  the  lard- 
ers with  other  things. 

Hay  and  straw  could  be  found  in  plenty; 
the  garden  furnished  provisions,  his  mother 
gave  them  to  him,  or  he  himself  took  sand, 
earth,  pebbles,  and  so  forth.  Men  and  animals 
were  cut  out  of  turnips,  etc.,  and  provided 
with  wooden  legs.  The  utensils  were  gener- 
ally made  of  paper. 

Karl  was  then  master  of  the  house.  He 
had  a  wife,  children,  and  servants;  also  horses, 
cows,  sheep,  pigs,  chickens,  geese,  ducks,  and 
so  forth,  which  he  attended  to  himself.  He 
watched  everything  with  great  care,  and  kept 
in  mind  what  was  wanting. 

One  may  easily  understand  what  a  wide,  I 
may  say  what  an  immeasurable  and  yet  highly 


Toys  and  First  Steps  in  Education    179 

fruitful,  field  is  thus  opened  for  parents  and 
children.  A  properly  brought-up  child  will 
pass  hours  each  day  building,  for  he  will  be 
thinking  all  the  time,  trying  to  discover  some- 
thing new,  and  instructing  himself  in  a  variety 
of  ways. 

Thus  Karl  once  discovered  the  art  of  build- 
ing with  interstices,  gaining  thereby  double 
and  treble  the  use  for  his  stones.  His  joy  at 
this  was  very  great,  and  his  building  opera- 
tions increased  immensely.  Naturally  we 
gave  appropriate  approval  to  his  invention. 

However  few  the  toys  were  which  Karl 
had,  and  however  long  the  winter  is  in  the 
country,  Karl  never  became  weary,  nor  was 
he  ever  tired  of  his  toys.  On  the  contrary,  he 
was  always  merry  and  happy  with  them. 

Most  children  get  such  a  mass  of  toys  to 
play  with,  that  they  all  become  a  matter  of  in- 
difference to  them.  Finally  they  do  not  pay 
the  proper  attention  to  anything,  for  they  are 
satiated,  keep  demanding  something  new, 
something  more  expensive,  only  in  order  to 
have  the  things  because  they  have  seen  other 
children  with  them.  The  proper  use  for 
these  things,  their  helpfulness  and  the  pleas- 
ure they  should  afford  does  not  concern  them. 


i8o       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

They  rather  become  indifferent  toward  what 
they  have  and  greedy  for  what  they  do  not 
own,  and  that  is  most  injurious  for  their  fu- 
ture lives.  Their  Christmas  presents  must 
end  by  becoming  very  expensive,  and  remain 
unused,  whereas  a  few  trifles,  but  such  which 
could  be  put  to  various  uses,  gave  Karl  an  in- 
credible amount  of  pleasure. 

As  soon  as  the  weather  permitted,  he  lived 
in  the  open,  under  the  circumstances  described 
above.  In  the  winter,  especially  during  a 
clear  frost,  he  played  outside,  walking,  run- 
ning, leaping,  with  all  kinds  of  acrobatic  va- 
riations, riding  on  a  stick,  pulling  his  cart  or 
sleigh,  as  the  case  might  be. 

If  the  weather  was  more  pleasant  and  the 
soil  was  no  longer  damp,  the  garden  was  his 
domicile.  He  passed  hours  in  weeding,  hunt- 
ing for  asparagus,  comparing  leaves  and  blos- 
soms with  one  another;  in  finding  out  whether 
the  plants  and  flowers  were  coming  out  and 
blossoming,  in  order  to  let  us  know  about  it; 
in  observing  the  numberless  insects,  the  creep- 
ing, running,  hopping,  flying  ones,  and  to  tell 
us  about  them  later.  He  had  no  conception 
of  fear  of  them.  Even  while  he  was  an  in- 
fant in  our  arms,  we  pointed  them  out  to  him 


Toys  and  First  Steps  in  Education    i8l 

as  something  attractive,  told  him  about  them, 
and  got  him  used  to  them.  We  would  say, 
"A  boy  must  not  be  afraid  I"  and  similar  state- 
ments completed  the  instruction  which  we 
had  started  in  the  above-mentioned  way. 

If  he  found  anything  of  the  presence  of 
which  he  thought  we  were  ignorant,  he 
brought  it  to  us  with  a  shout,  asking  insistent- 
ly for  instruction  and  eager  to  know  what  it 
was  good  for.  He  was  particularly  fond  of 
birds.  Their  nests  were  almost  as  sacred  to 
him  as  human  habitations,  and  their  young 
ones  as  children.  He  never  got  tired  admiring 
the  skilful  and  purposive  structure  of  the  nest; 
the  faithful  brooding  of  the  bird;  the  care  be- 
stowed on  the  feeding  of  the  young  ones; 
their  growth,  change,  fledging,  flitting  away, 
first  accompanied  by  their  parents,  and  then 
boldly  and  freely  by  themselves  flying  off  into 
the  world.  All  this  gave  him  food  for  in- 
struction. 

How  could  we  have  been  able  to  bring  him 
up  so  Godfearing  and  pious  without  our  yard, 
garden,  meadow,  and  forest?  The  thought 
that  God,  not  we,  made  everything  grow  and 
prosper,  through  sunshine,  wind,  rain,  dew, 
mist,  etc.,  was  so  strongly  developed  in  him 


182       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

that  he  could  not  see  a  thing  becoming  green 
and  blossoming  without  at  the  same  time 
thinking  of  God  the  creator,  father,  preserver, 
and  provider  of  all  beings. 

We,  therefore,  at  times  purposely  varied  the 
sentences,  "It  is  growing,  blossoming,  bearing 
fruit,"  with  the  more  correct  ones,  "God 
makes  it  grow,  blossom,  bear  fruit."  We  par- 
ticularly expressed  ourselves  thus  in  regard 
to  the  weather,  whether  it  was  good  or  bad 
for  the  crops. 

If  Karl  was  in  the  garden,  or  anywhere  in 
the  open,  he  felt  himself  to  be  in  the  earthly, 
visible  kingdom  of  God,  where  the  all-power, 
wisdom,  and  goodness  of  the  Eternal  One  was 
ruling  and  daily  working  new  miracles,  most 
beneficent  for  man  and  beast.  How  could  he 
have  been  able  to  think,  speak  or  do  anything 
wrong  here,  in  the  presence,  under  the  eyes 
of  his  Heavenly  Father  I 

"A  child  that  has  not  yet  been  misguided," 
I  maintain  with  full  confidence,  "will,  under 
the  above-mentioned  circumstances  always  be 
and  want  to  be  Godfearing  and  Godloving, 
consequently  obedient,  respectful,  and  amia- 
ble, grateful,  industrious,  and  so  forth." 


CHAPTER   XIV 

Must  Children  Play  Much  with  Other 
Children? 

Since  I  was  repeatedly  informed  that  Karl 
should  have  a  playmate,  for  otherwise  he 
would  not  enjoy  his  childhood  and  would 
get  tired,  ill-humored,  or  even  stubborn,  I 
finally  gave  in  and,  with  the  aid  of  my  wife, 
chose,  one  after  the  other,  two  somewhat 
grown  girls  who  at  that  time  were  apparently 
the  best-behaved  children  in  the  whole  com- 
munity. They  sang,  danced,  and  played  with 
him,  and  he  naturally  was  happy. 

But  the  same  child  that  heretofore  had  nev- 
er been  stubborn  and  had  never  told  an  un- 
truth, now  learned  both.  He  also  became 
accustomed  to  coarse  expressions,  and  grew 
arbitrary  and  domineering,  because  these 
girls,  who  came  to  us  on  account  of  some  small 
advantage  to  them,  did  not  oppose  him. 

Our  assurances  that  we  should  be  happy 
if  they  did  not  give  in  to  his  will,  but  let  us 

183 


184       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

know  of  his  arbitrariness,  did  no  good.  Their 
years,  their  social  standing,  their  education, 
and  the  prejudices  which  are  inseparable 
from  it  made  them  deaf  against  it,  and  we 
had  to  banish  them. 

It  is  indeed  a  foolish  and  highly  injurious 
idea  that  children  cannot  be  merry  without 
other  children. 

It  is  only  natural  for  them  to  wish  to  be 
with  children,  for  with  them  they  need  not 
be  so  careful  about  their  thoughts,  inclina- 
tions, talks,  and  actions,  and  they  are  not 
guarded  and  supervised  so  constantly.  But 
one  need  only  be  a  child  with  them,  need  only 
take  part  in  merry  jests,  let  the  children  now 
and  then  get  the  upper  hand  and  be  more 
clever,  by  allowing  them  to  occupy  a  place  of 
greater  dignity,  and  so  forth,  and  they  will 
feel  just  as  happy  playing  with  older  persons, 
will  learn  to  avoid  naughty  things,  and  will 
not  so  easily  take  any  harm. 

Worst  of  all  it  is  to  make  playmates  out 
of  uneducated  children,  especially  without 
any  close  observation.  I  have  constantly 
found  the  troubles,  which  I  mentioned  in  re- 
gard to  Karl,  repeated  in  other  families  as 
well,  and  even  worse  troubles.     The  virtues 


Playing  with  Other  Children        185 

of  the  well-brought-up  child  pass  over  less 
readily  to  the  ill-brought-up  children  than  the 
faults  of  the  latter  infect  the  still  unspoiled 
child,  for  virtues  demand,  at  least  in  the  be- 
ginning, effort  and  self-control,  because  they 
are  contrary  to  our  inclinations  and  passions. 
But  faults  are  more  easily  adopted,  because 
our  sensuousness  naturally  leans  that  way,  and 
the  bad  example  of  the  little  friend  acts  as  an 
encouragement. 

Most  dangerous  of  all  is  the  being  together 
in  an  institution  or  public  school.  In  regard 
to  the  latter  it  has  been  a  settled  principle  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  observed  by  every  sen- 
sible father,  not  to  send  his  child,  without  the 
most  urgent  necessity,  to  the  lower  classes  of 
the  same,  because  there  are  more  ill-brought- 
up  children  there  than  in  the  upper  classes. 

So  long  as  our  schools  are  not  at  the  same 
time  schools  of  moral  training,  so  long  as  the 
pupils,  from  the  first  moment  to  the  last 
(more  especially  in  the  recesses,  as  well  as 
before  and  after  school),  are  not  constantly 
under  the  supervision  of  a  teacher,  the  expe- 
rienced father  would  gladly  sacrifice  all  at- 
tendance at  school,  if  the  mass  of  information, 
which  a  large  number  of  teachers  can  impart, 


1 86       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

did  not  make  the  instruction  given  by  each  of 
them  in  his  specialty  so  desirable. 

One  ought  to  take  but  a  very  few  children, 
say  two  or  three,  under  one's  charge,  when 
the  supervision  could  be  made  successful.  If 
one,  for  financial  reasons,  wishes  to  take  fif- 
teen to  twenty,  one  should  keep  enough  teach- 
ers to  have  but  two  or  three  under  the  charge 
of  one. 

If  none  of  these  precautions  have  been  tak- 
en, the  faults  which  have  been  brought  to- 
gether from  all  the  corners  of  the  world  must 
soon  become  the  common  possession,  to  out- 
grow and  crush  the  few  virtues  which  are 
present. 

It  is  rank  stupidity  to  imagine  that  chil- 
dren cannot  be  agreeable  and  sociable  unless 
they  all  the  time  go  around  with  other  chil- 
dren. I  have  repeatedly  found  the  very  oppo- 
site to  be  the  truth. 

Karl  and  every  child  that  was  treated  in 
the  same  way,  were  by  that  very  treatment 
made  more  yielding,  and  it  was,  therefore,  no 
hardship  for  them  to  have  to  yield.  Other 
children  tease  what  they  want  out  of  their 
playmates  in  various  ways,  and  so  become 
accustomed  to  self-assertion.    From  this  there 


Playing  with  Other  Children        187 

grow  shrewdness,  simulation,  untruth,  quar- 
reling, stubbornness,  hatred,  envy,  haughti- 
ness, aspersion,  fighting,  calumniation,  etc.  A 
child  remains  quite  free  from  all  these,  so 
long  as  he  plays  only  with  his  parents  or  with 
other  sensible  persons. 

Naturally  the  opportunity  for  coming  to- 
gether with  children  is  not  excluded,  but  their 
commingling  should  occur  only  now  and  then, 
and  under  supervision.  Such  an  occasional 
meeting,  when  all  the  reserve  has  not  been 
thrown  ofif,  can  do  no  harm.  Karl  has  had 
many  a  chance  for  meeting  children  under 
such  circumstances  during  his  longer  or  short- 
er journeys. 

He  got  along  so  well  with  them  that  they 
invariably  became  very  fond  of  him  and  near- 
ly always  parted  from  him  with  tears  in  their 
eyes.  Having  become  accustomed  to  calm, 
merriment,  order,  and  sensible  reasoning, 
even  in  his  games,  he  observed  these  virtues 
also  when  with  other  children.  There  was 
for  him  no  ready  cause  for  quarreling.  On 
the  contrary,  he  frequently  avoided  it  by  clear- 
ing away  misunderstandings,  or  put  an  end  to 
it  by  prayers,  sensible  arguments,  and  so  forth. 

Since  he  never  quarreled  at  home  with  any 


1 88        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

one,  such  action  appeared  to  him  repulsive 
and  unseemly.  He  felt  that  quarreling  put 
an  end  to  playing,  nor  was  his  blood  roused 
by  daily  recurring  quarrels.  He  consequent- 
ly did  not  so  easily  become  excited,  nor  did 
his  blood  boil  as  easily  as  that  of  children 
constantly  quarreling  and  fighting  with  one 
another.  He  knew  nothing  of  that  anger 
which  so  frequently  puts  an  end  to  children's 
playing.  He  remained  calm,  while  others 
grew  excited.  Not  even  the  naughtiest  of  boys 
could  ever  have  brought  him  so  far  as  to  make 
him  swear  or  fight. 

Nearly  all  the  children,  boys  and  girls,  who 
knew  him  more  intimately  became  fond  of 
him.  There  was  but  one  opinion  about  him, 
that  he  was  very  amiable  and  could  get  along 
well  with  others.  I  do  not  know  a  single  case, 
not  even  in  his  maturer  years,  of  his  having 
quarreled  with  one  of  his  many  youthful 
friends,  or  of  having  fallen  out  with  them, 
although  many  an  occasion  offered  itself  for  it 
during  his  investigation,  and  even  lively  dis- 
cussion, of  learned  subjects.  I  may  say  there 
should  have  been  such  occasions,  because  his 
opponents  were  usually  considerably  older 
than  he. 


^Playing  with  Other  Children        189 

He  generally  sided  with  his  betters,  and 
these  betters  knew  him  well,  hence  that  inti- 
mate respect  and  love  which  they  still  have  for 
him.  Their  mutual  relations  have  frequently 
moved  me  to  tears. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  these  worthy  young 
men  for  having  so  tenderly  and  lastingly 
clung  to  him.  They  are  sure  of  my  respect 
and  of  his. 

People  would,  therefore,  do  well  to  drop 
that  harmful  prejudice  that  children  can  be 
made  happy  and  merry  only  by  playing  with 
other  children.  With  the  same  right  one  may 
say  that  they  should  be  left  much  in  the  com- 
pany of  the  servants,  for  they  like  to  be  in 
their  company  for  similar  reasons,  whereas, 
who  would  be  so  rash  as  to  abandon  them  to 
servants,  except  in  a  case  of  dire  necessity? 


CHAPTER   XV 

Karl's  Diet 

My  wife  scarcely  changed  her  usual  manner 
of  life  during  her  pregnancy.  She  at  best 
avoided  the  heavy  vegetables,  or  ate  a  little 
less  of  them  than  usual.  She  proceeded  in  the 
same  manner  all  the  time  she  nursed  Karl. 

People  knew  that  we  would  take  no  wet 
nurse  and  that  Karl  was  going  to  have  no  other 
food  than  his  mother's  milk,  if  she  should 
have  enough  nourishment  for  him.  So  they 
expressed  their  anxiety  for  us  and  for  Karl. 
For,  they  said,  the  mother  is  not  big  and 
strong;  how,  then,  can  she  give  sufficient 
to  the  child? 

Then  there  began  to  pour  in  advice  which, 
if  I  had  been  unreasonable  or  weak  enough  to 
follow  it,  would  have  made  my  wife  ill  and 
would  have  killed  my  son,  or  would  have  made 
a  weakling  of  him. 

Imagine  a  person  who,  as  all  the  advisers 
well  knew,  had  never  eaten  anything  but  the 

190 


KarVs  Diet  191 

ordinary  articles  of  food  used  in  our  station 
of  life;  who  never  drank  anything  but  pure 
water,  although  she  frequently  could  have  had 
all  costly  beverages  for  nothing;  whose  break- 
fast consisted  of  bread  and  butter  and  a  glass 
of  water,  while  walking  with  me  through  the 
garden ;  who  never  drank  tea  or  coffee  in  the 
afternoon,  and  in  the  evening  ate  something 
very  simple,  and — mind  you — had  been 
brought  up  in  this  manner  of  life,  felt  particu- 
larly well  and  happy  with  it;  imagine  a  per- 
son like  this  all  of  a  sudden  exhorted  "in  the 
morning  to  take  in  bed  two  cups  of  very  strong 
coffee  with  excellent  cream,  and  to  eat  a  pret- 
zel or  something  like  it;  at  ten  o'clock  to  drink 
one  large  cup  or  two  small  cups  of  strong 
chocolate  and  eat  with  it  a  roll  toasted  in  but- 
ter." 

If  she  had  any  appetite  before  dinner,  or  if 
it  was  still  long  to  dinner,  she  was  "to  have  a 
cup  or  two  of  good  meat  broth."  At  dinner 
"she  should  have  nothing  but  strengthening 
meat  soup,  fine  vegetables,  roast  of  chicken, 
duck,  or  venison,  with  something  nourishing 
or  refreshing,  a  few  glasses  of  old  French 
wine  or  very  good  red  wine,  whose  quality 
should  be  carefully  tested,"  while  during  the 


192       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

whole  day  she  should  have  "very  strong  beer, 
best  of  all  Morseburg  beer  with  sugar." 
After  dinner  again  "a  few  cups  of  particular- 
ly good  coffee  with  cream;  between  five  and 
six  o'clock  a  few  cups  of  tea  with  pretzels,  or 
good  meat  broth;  and  in  the  evening  meat- 
soup  with  some  roast."  With  this  a  glass  of 
wine,  and  after  it  the  beer,  as  described.  She 
must  "abstain  from  all  housework,  must  not 
run  around  so  much,  but  may  walk  about  the 
garden  now  and  then." 

If  my  wife  had,  by  some  kind  of  a  miracle, 
survived  such  a  manner  of  life  and  remained 
in  good  health,  Karl  would  have  become  a 
roly-poly,  keeping  his  mother  awake  at  nights 
with  his  restlessness,  suffering  from  teething, 
and  going  through  all  kinds  of  children's  dis- 
eases with  their  frequently  injurious  conse- 
quences. But,  with  God's  aid,  nothing  of  the 
kind  was  to  happen,  if  my  attending  of  medi- 
cal lectures  and  later  careful  observation  and 
experience  were  to  count  for  anything. 

However  much  my  inexperienced  wife  may 
have  felt  inclined  to  follow  the  manner  of  life 
which  had  been  recommended  to  her,  I  must 
do  her  the  justice  of  stating  that,  relying  upon 
me,  she  rejected  it  in  the  whole  and  in  its 


Karl's  Diet  193 

parts,  and  continued  her  usual  way  of  living, 
paying,  as  before,  attention  to  her  household 
duties,  and  doing  plenty  of  running  about.  It 
does  her  double  honor,  because  she  might 
have  embarrassed  me  with  the  common  saw, 
"Everybody  says  so;  do  you  pretend  to  know 
better  than  everybody?"  It  did  not  escape 
my  notice  that,  as  a  human  creature,  she  occa- 
sionally thought  that  way.  But  she  very  rare- 
ly gave  utterance  to  it,  for  an  experience  of 
nearly  four  years  had  shown  her  that  there 
was  reason  in  my  simple  treatment  of  the  hu- 
man body. 

The  only  change  she  made  in  her  manner  of 
living  was  that  in  the  morning  and  evening 
she  ate  some  thin  oatmeal  gruel  and  at  dinner 
took  a  little  more  soup  than  usual.  Conse- 
quently the  milk  came  in  without  the  least  dis- 
turbance, and  she  knew  of  milk  fever  and  such 
like  only  from  hearsay.  Besides,  she  always 
had  enough  nourishment  for  Karl,  so  that  he 
did  not  need  any  other  food,  yet  was  well  fed. 
So  much  a  pure,  unspoilt  human  organism 
may  perform,  and  so  little  does  it  need!  Of 
puerperal  fever,  etc.,  there  was  not  even  a 
thought. 

But  how  easily  my  wife  might  have  gotten 


194        ^^^  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

it,  and  how  surely  our  child  would  have  been 
sacrificed,  if  we  had  paid  attention  to  the 
advice  urged  on  us,  is  proved  by  the  fol- 
lowing: 

At  a  christening  at  K.,  where  my  wife 
was  as  happy  as  usual  and  had  a  good  ap- 
petite, she  found  a  meat  dish  which  she  liked 
in  particular  and  so  ate  in  the  evening  of 
it  more  than  was  good  for  her.  She  was 
perfectly  well  the  next  day,  but  her  milk 
did  not  preserve  the  customary  mildness  to 
which  Karl  had  become  accustomed.  So  he 
got  a  little  heat  and  a  slight  fever.  Instead  of 
any  medicine  for  him,  his  mother  partook  that 
day  of  considerably  less  meat,  ate  light  food, 
and  took  a  longer  walk  under  God's  free 
heaven.  This  cured  Karl,  and  the  next  day 
he  was  as  well  as  a  fish  in  the  water. 

Had  we  not  observed  his  illness  and  cor- 
rectly judged  its  cause,  and  had  we,  in  conse- 
quence, tried  to  cure  it  by  means  of  medicine, 
that  is,  by  some  kind  of  poison,  while  my  wife 
continued  to  feed  on  heavy  meats,  what  then? 

But  our  advisers  did  not  consider  such 
things,  or,  rather,  did  not  want  to  consider 
them,  but  were  sure,  as  so  many  men  are,  that 
their  advice  was  unfailing,  and  that  we  should 


KarVs  Diet  195 

have  to  follow  it,  if  we  had  any  respect  for 
them.  In  their  shortsightedness  these  people 
confused  the  concepts  "advice"  and  "com- 
mand" with  one  another.  I  have  often  ob- 
served and  painfully  felt  such  confusion  in 
professional  scholars. 

I  have  never  understood  the  art  of  saying 
"Yes!"  and  doing  "No!"  So  I  tried  at  first 
to  persuade  my  advisers  that  it  would  be  bet- 
ter to  follow  a  different  course  from  that 
which  they  advocated.  But  I  failed  com- 
pletely in  convincing  them.  Immediately,  as 
usual,  calumnies  began  to  scatter  from  Dies- 
kau,  over  Halle,  in  all  directions  where  I  was 
known,  accusing  me  of  being  quarrelsome, 
haughty,  vain,  stingy,  mean  to  my  wife,  and 
asserting  that  I  pretended  to  know  everything 
better  than  anybody  else.  Openly,  indeed, 
my  detractors  voiced  their  belief  that  my  wife 
would  grow  weak  and  that  my  son  would  thus 
die.  But  when  neither  happened,  when  all 
secret  and  public  inquiries  proved  to  my  an- 
tagonists, to  their  regret,  that  I  was  right, 
they  became  even  more  provoked  against  me, 
and  now  condemned  me  in  general,  where  be- 
fore they  had  condemned  me  in  relation  to 
particular  things. 


196       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

From  that  time  dates  the  statement,  which 
for  many  years  has  been  made  in  regard  to  me 
at  Halle,  that  I  was  a  favorite  of  Fate,  for  the 
critics  would  not  admit  that  the  success  of  this 
or  that  plan  was  the  result  of  ripe  experience, 
much  thought,  and  iron  persistency. 

Karl  was  nursed  for  nine  months,  getting 
no  other  food  during  that  time.  Only  once 
did  I  from  human  weakness  submit  to  the  gen- 
eral assurance  that  the  mother  would  be  too 
much  affected  by  it.  We  tried  carefully  to 
feed  Karl  additionally,  but  mother  and  child 
at  once  began  to  suffer  from  it,  and  we  re- 
turned to  our  better  ways. 

When  he  was  to  be  weaned,  we  gave 
him  now  and  then  a  little  soup  of  powdered 
toast  with  water  and  a  little  butter.  By  de- 
grees we  repeated  the  experiment  more  fre- 
quently, while  my  wife  kept  more  and  more 
away  from  the  child.  After  a  few  days  he 
forgot  about  the  nursing,  and  his  mother  lost 
the  milk,  without  knowing  how. 

Now  the  above-mentioned  soup  began  more 
frequently  to  alternate  with  oatmeal  gruel, 
and  occasionally  my  wife  boiled  the  oatmeal 
with  fresh  milk.  A  little  later  he  now  and 
then  got  a  little  meat  soup,  which  we  thinned 


KarVs  Diet  197 

with  water,  if  it  appeared  to  us  to  be  too 
strong.  By  degrees  he  was  accustomed  to  light 
vegetables,  finally  to  everything  which  we  our- 
selves ate,  excepting  that  we  gave  him  com- 
paratively little  meat.  In  consequence  of  this 
natural  procedure  he  got  one  tooth  after  the 
other,  without  any  pain  and  without  our 
knowing  it. 

The  loss  of  the  milk  in  my  wife  was  pre- 
pared in  the  following  manner:  From  the 
time  that  Karl  was  to  be  weaned  she  ate  con- 
siderably less,  least  of  all  meat  and  nourishing 
dishes,  so  that  at  times  she  was  really  hungry, 
and  she  drank  much  water.  In  this  way  the 
milk  became  visibly  thinner,  ran  out,  when 
Karl  did  not  drink  it,  and  completely  stopped 
in  a  few  days,  without  the  slightest  pain. 

In  the  first  two  years  the  boy  received  in 
the  morning  some  soup,  later  on  the  same 
food  as  we  took,  bread  and  butter  and  fresh 
water.  Up  to  his  fourth  year  or  so  we  gave 
him  a  second  piece  of  bread  and  butter  be- 
tween ten  and  eleven  o'clock. 

In  spite  of  our  strict  attention,  the  child 
occasionally  received  something  in  secret,  es- 
pecially from  the  peasant  women,  because 
these  know  of  no  other  way  of  expressing 


198        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

their  love.  Once  he  might  have  been  greatty 
harmed  in  this  way,  for  Mrs.  P.  G.  at  R.  had 
fed  him  with  blood  sausage,  while  he  was 
still  being  nursed.  We  found  that  out  next 
day  from  the  servant  who  had  taken  him  there, 
when  Karl  had  become  ill. 

Beginning  with  his  third  year  his  food  was 
precisely  the  same  as  ours.  After  his  simple 
breakfast  and  constant  motion  in  the  open, 
he  generally  had  an  excellent  appetite  for  his 
dinner.  He  was  taught  to  eat  everything. 
We  here  united  love  with  earnestness  and  rea- 
son, as  in  his  whole  educational  scheme.  Our 
dishes  were  cooked  fresh  every  day,  and  they 
were  well  prepared.  If  there  was  one  which 
he  did  not  particularly  like,  we  made  this 
concession  that  we  did  not  force  him  to  eat 
much  of  it.  At  the  same  time  we  directed  his 
attention,  by  representations  or  a  story  invent- 
ed for  the  occasion,  to  the  fact  that  by  his  dis- 
like he  deprived  himself  of  a  great  enjoyment, 
since  the  particular  food  was  very  much  liked 
by  us  and  by  all  other  men.  "We  rejoice 
every  time  it  comes,"  we  would  say,  ''and  you 
feel  grieved!  Get  used  to  eating  it,  and  you 
will  not  be  grieved,  but  will  rejoice  with  us  I" 
Since  we,  his  parents,  ate  anything,  we  could 


Karl's  Diet  199 

so  much  the  more  easily  get  him  to  do  like- 
wise, by  directing  his  attention  to  our  example. 
In  fact,  in  a  very  short  time  he  ate  everything. 

At  four  o'clock  he  got  his  bread  and  but- 
ter, and  drank  a  small  pot  of  water. 
Frequently  he  would  do  without  the  butter, 
because  our  stories  had  taught  him  the  use- 
fulness of  reducing  one's  wants.  In  the  eve- 
ning he  received  his  soup,  as  a  rule  before 
our  supper,  so  that  he  could  go  to  bed  in 
good  season. 

We  cannot  recall  a  case  when  he  had  an 
attack  of  indigestion  while  living  at  home. 
Even  when  away  from  home,  that  happened 
but  rarely  and  was  not  of  much  importance. 
His  hosts  would  stuff  him,  from  so-called 
love.  But  as  soon  as  he  had  come  to  his 
senses,  he  refused  to  accept  such  manifesta- 
tions of  love,  and,  even  when  the  most  attrac- 
tive dainties  were  offered  him,  would  say,  to 
their  astonishment  and  even  anger,  "I  thank 
you,  I  have  had  enough  1" 

I  aver  most  solemnly  that  the  silly  love  for 
Karl  went  so  far  that  people  of  that  type  bore 
me  a  real  grudge,  because  they  could  not  see, 
and  therefore  could  not  admit,  that  Karl's 
refusals  came  from  his  soul. 


200       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

"It  is  against  nature,"  they  would  say,  "for 
a  child  not  to  like  dainties.  You  must  have 
forbidden  him  with  great  severity  to  eat  them, 
or  you  must  have  signaled  to  him  and  the 
poor  boy  obeys  you  implicitly!" 

Such,  forsooth,  were  the  words  that  were 
uttered  in  my  presence  and  that  of  Karl.  It 
was  a  settled  thing  with  them  that  I  was  a  bar- 
barian. 

The  dear  people  naturally  spoke  of  nature 
as  viewed  from  their  standpoint,  and  did  not 
even  suspect  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  edu- 
cator to  ennoble  the  lower,  sensuous  nature, 
that  it  is  his  duty  to  elicit  what  is  highest  in 
man  by  means  of  reason  and  habit,  to  strength- 
en it,  and  to  make  it  occupy  a  commanding 
position.  Still  less  did  they  know  that  it  was 
an  easy  matter  to  accomplish,  and  that  in  a 
child  properly  brought  up  from  the  start  the 
result  came  of  its  own  accord. 

Having  been  in  a  hundred  different  ways 
instructed  in  the  matter,  Karl  considered 
health  and  good  spirits  to  be  two  invaluable 
possessions.  We  seldom  or  never  allowed  an 
opportunity  to  pass  without  lauding  them  and 
regretting  their  absence.  "He  who  eats  too 
much,"  we  would  often  say,  "later  loses  his 


Karl's  Diet  201 

good  spirits  and  grows  indisposed  and  even 
sick."  If  he  had  been  overfed  at  some  place, 
we  pitied  him,  because  he  had  to  suffer,  could 
not  be  as  happy  as  usual;  in  a  lively  manner, 
yet  truthfully,  we  brought  before  his  eyes  the 
many  inconveniences  which  he  now  had  to 
suffer;  directed  his  attention  to  the  possible, 
even  worse  consequences;  reminded  him,  es- 
pecially in  good  weather,  of  his  loss  at  not  be- 
ing able  to  play  outside,  or  study,  or  help  us; 
made  him  observe  that  we,  too,  on  his  account, 
could  not  be  outside,  that  we  missed  some 
things  and  were  worried. 

How  could  a  child  whose  mind  and  heart 
had  been  properly  trained  help  hearing  all 
that  with  sorrow?  If  I  know  anything  about 
the  human  mind,  he  could  not  help  regretting 
his  imprudence  and  make  up  his  mind  to  be 
more  cautious  in  the  future.  Excuses  such  as, 
"They  pushed  it  upon  me,"  were  not  accepted, 
and  so  they  were  never  given  by  Karl. 

"You  know,  dear  child,  that  it  is  injurious 
to  eat  more  than  is  absolutely  necessary.  Why 
did  you  give  in?  Will  they  now  be  suffering 
for  you?  Go  and  ask  them  to!  But  you  can- 
not do  that,  and  they  cannot  and  will  not  take 
over  your  pain.     So  be  more  careful  in  the 


202        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

future,  and  on  such  occasions  think  of  our  in- 
junction! Or  do  you  believe  that  they  know 
better  than  we?  Do  you  imagine  they  love 
you  more  than  we  do?  Dear  boy,  how  could 
that  be  possible?  We,  your  parents,  who  give 
you  every  day  so  many  proofs  of  our  love  and 
care!  No,  my  child,  you  cannot  imagine  that! 
The  food  which  you  ate  elsewhere  does  not 
cost  us  anything, — then  why  do  we  so  earnest- 
ly wish  you  had  not  eaten  it?  Because  it  hurts 
you!" 

Deeply  touched,  he  would  embrace  us  and 
give  the  most  solemn  promise  that  he  would 
in  the  future  watch  himself  more  closely. 

As  a  rule  we  told  him  afterward  a  story  or 
two  invented  for  the  occasion,  and  these  never 
failed  in  their  purpose.  We  also  drew  exam- 
ples from  life,  for  which,  alas,  only  too  many 
cases  offered  themselves.  Among  the  peasant 
children  overeating  is  unfortunately  a  com- 
mon occurrence,  for  these  people  cling  to 
sensuality,  because  the  higher  enjoyments  are 
unknown  and  unattainable  by  them.  We  pre- 
ferably drew  his  attention  to  similar  incidents 
in  more  cultured  families,  especially  if  they 
referred  to  some  young  friend  or  acquaint- 
ance. 


Karl's  Diet  203 

The  son  of  a  pastor  not  far  away  was 
named  F.  The  child  was  one  year  old  when 
I  entered  the  house  of  his  parents  for  the  first 
time.  He  was  such  a  pretty  boy  that  on  my 
way  home  to  Lochau  I  said  to  my  wife,  "That 
child  could  be  trained  very  highly!" 

But  the  boy  was  soon  named  "gold  son," 
"father's  treasure,"  "mother's  treasure,"  and 
so  forth  (he,  certainly,  was  the  last  two,  but 
not  the  first),  and  before  long  I  came  to  the 
conviction  that  the  child  could  not  be  trained 
so  highly  after  all.  The  child  was  so  stuffed 
that  he  became  big  and  fat.  His  mother  fre- 
quently showed  him  to  us  with  a  certain  pride, 
because  he  was  such  a  butterball.  I  felt  really 
anxious  about  him,  and  so  I  could  not  keep 
from  explaining  to  her  the  dangers  which 
awaited  such  a  well-fed  baby. 

But  she  smiled  with  a  knowing  mien,  and 
the  father  with  self-satisfaction  pointed  to 
his  remaining  nine  children,  who,  it  is  true, 
had  "grown."  As  I  could  not  discuss  this 
particular  point,  I  kept  silent. 

What  I  feared  actually  happened.  The 
child  suffered  from  time  to  time  from  his  ex- 
cessive feeding,  grew  daily  more  homely,  suf- 
fered excruciating  toothaches,  got  all  kinds 


204       ^^^  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

of  children's  diseases,  and  was  often  near 
death.  But  as  his  parents  were  very  healthy, 
he,  too,  had  much  vitality;  so  he  went  on  suf- 
fering, and  survived. 

When  the  boy  was  eight  or  nine  years  old, 
I  could  never  look  at  him  without  sorrow, — 
he  was  small,  bloated,  repellent  in  shape,  with 
an  uncommonly  large  head,  the  face  pitted 
from  smallpox,  his  features  irregular,  his  eyes 
dimmed,  his  expression  dull. 

It  is  to  be  lamented  that  men  so  frequently 
tread  humanity  under  foot.  The  little  crea- 
ture had  no  time  for  reasoning, — he  was  all 
the  time  busy  with  his  digestion.  His  mental- 
ity was  therefore  in  a  most  pitiable  condition. 
But  he  did  not  know  it.  In  the  village  school, 
which  he  attended  off  and  on,  he  was  far  be- 
hind the  peasant  children,  but  these  respected 
him  as  the  pastor's  child,  and  so  he  felt  his  dis- 
tance from  them  in  an  inverse  sense. 

I  was  so  fully  convinced  that  he  gorged 
himself  at  every  holiday,  that  once,  soon  after 
Christmas,  I  asked  his  elder  brother,  whom 
we  met  on  a  walk: 

"How  is  everybody  at  home?  All  are 
well?" 

"Thank  you,  yesl" 


Karl's  Diet  205 

"But  F.  is  sick,  is  he  not?" 

"Yes,  he  is.  But  how  do  you  know  it  al- 
ready?" 

"O  well  I    Is  it  not  just  after  Christmas?" 

The  humanely  inclined  person  will  compre- 
hend with  what  bitter  feeling  I  voluntarily 
uttered  those  words.  But  I  risked  very  little, 
for  this  elder  son  had  also  eaten  a  great  deal 
during  his  childhood. 

I  went  at  once  with  Karl  to  see  F.  He  had 
violent  abdominal  pain  and  a  very  violent 
headache,  and  was  delirious. 

I  led  the  whole  conversation,  in  Karl's  pres- 
ence, by  means  of  questions  and  answers,  in 
such  a  way  that  everything  was  discussed  as 
I  wanted,  and  that  Karl  carried  away  more 
than  enough  for  himself.  Then  I  pitied  the 
victim  of  imprudence  from  the  fullness  of 
my  heart,  wished  him  a  speedy  recovery,  and 
returned  home. 

No  sooner  were  we  in  the  open  than  Karl 
went  over  everything  he  had  heard  and  seen 
with  me,  accompanying  everything  with  ap- 
propriate remarks.  He  earnestly  begged  me 
to  keep  him  in  the  future  from  overeating, 
and  on  his  part  promised  absolute  obedience. 

In  this  way  we  soon  needed  only  to  give 


2o6       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

him  a  little  warning,  whenever  we  went  out 
calling,  and  even  this  could  after  a  while  be 
dispensed  with. 

What  could  I  have  done  with  him,  if  he  had 
not  been  brought  up  in  that  manner?  Even  in 
his  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  year  he  used  to  sit 
in  Magdeburg,  Leipsic,  Dresden,  Berlin,  and 
Rostock,  but  especially  in  small  cities  and  vil- 
lages, at  well-filled  tables,  and  frequently  a 
great  distance  away  from  me,  some  person  or 
other  having  asked  for  his  company  at  table. 
When,  in  his  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  year, 
he  became  well  known,  he  would  have  per- 
ished, for  we  were  then  invited  to  the  tables 
of  the  rich.  On  such  occasions  Karl  was  sep- 
arated far  from  me,  in  order  to  be  under  ob- 
servation, and  they  confessed  to  me  more  than 
once  that  they  had  in  vain  tried  to  tempt  him. 

At  first  this  caused  me  anxiety,  but  later  on 
I  only  smiled  and  remained  calm,  because 
from  his  fifth  year  he  had  been  eating  at  home 
without  restraint,  according  to  his  inclination, 
and  yet  had  never  overeaten. 

In  regard  to  sugar  and  all  sweetmeats,  we 
had  taught  him  from  the  start  to  eat  but  little 
or  nothing  at  all  of  them.  Sugar  and  sweet- 
meats give  the  children  a  sweet  tooth,  and 


Karl's  Diet  207 

then  they  become  indifferent  toward  simple 
dishes.  This  is  bad  enough,  but  they  soon 
hanker  for  the  sugared  dainties,  which  they 
buy  for  themselves.  That  is  worse.  If  they 
cannot  buy  any  more,  they  become  dissatis- 
fied with  their  parents  and  their  circum- 
stances, and  perhaps  steal  the  sweetmeats  or 
the  money  for  them.  Which  decidedly  is 
worst  of  all. 

Besides,  I  believe  that  the  frequent  use  of 
sweetmeats  coats  the  stomach  and,  since  the 
sweetmeats  are  generally  also  rich,  ruins  it. 
This  creates  or,  rather,  breeds  worms,  produ- 
cing untold  annoyance,  even  horrible  cramps. 
Nor  can  the  sugar  taken  in  great  quantity  and 
bitten  into,  as  children  always  do,  help  being 
injurious  to  the  young  teeth,  since  it  contains 
a  strong  salt,  which  directly  injures  the  enam- 
el and  the  tooth  itself,  with  its  nerves.  Even 
if  this  were  not  the  case,  the  exhalations  of 
the  stomach,  coated  and  ruined  by  the  sweet- 
meats, are  enough  to  spoil  the  child's  teeth. 
I  have  always  found  it  so,  and  I  have  observed 
the  beneficial  consequences  of  a  contrary  treat- 
ment. 

I  will  also  mention  that  sweetmeats  are 
generally  given  to  children  when  their  hunger 


2o8        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

has  already  been  satisfied,  and  that  conse- 
quently this  alone  must  be  injurious,  causing 
a  spoiled  stomach,  because  sweetmeats  stimu- 
late one  to  eat  more  than  one  otherwise  would. 

In  any  case  I  have  found  the  popular  preju- 
dice justified.  "Sweetmeats  give  the  children 
black  teeth,"  and  "Sugar  makes  the  teeth  fall 
out." 

So  Karl  was  never  allowed  to  fall  into  the 
habit  of  eating  either  much  sugar  or  many 
sweetmeats.  Others  pressed  them  on  him,  but 
in  vain. 

In  a  Halle  family  it  was  the  custom  to  give 
the  children  off  and  on  a  cone  of  candy.  I 
begged  them  not  to  give  one  to  Karl,  but  it 
did  no  good.  I  elaborated  my  reasons,  but 
they  were  laughed  away.  I  was  thinking  of 
ceasing  to  visit  this  house  or,  at  least,  letting 
Karl  appear  there  less  frequently,  but  this 
proved  unnecessary.  Karl  understood  us  so 
well  that  he  divided  the  cone  among  us  and 
other  persons  present,  and  with  the  sugar,  of 
which  they  also  gave  him  large  pieces,  he  fed 
a  dog,  who  was  very  fond  of  it.  The  surpris- 
ing thing  was  that  he  never  gave  the  sugar  to 
a  human  being,  as  though  he  considered  it 
unworthy  of  a  man  to  eat  sugar. 


Karl's  Diet  209 

I  suffered  many  an  annoyance  from  that 
family,  who  otherwise  were  kindly  inclined 
toward  me.  Every  time  Karl  divided  up  his 
candy  or  fed  the  dog,  he  was  scolded  for  it, 
and  I  was  even  asked  to  order  him  to  keep 
what  he  was  given.  I  would  not  have  done 
so  for  anything  in  the  world.  At  first  that 
considerably  disturbed  the  social  merriment, 
but  by  degrees  our  hosts  became  accustomed 
to  it.  When  Karl  was  in  his  third  year  and 
persisted  in  his  determination  not  to  eat  the 
candy,  they  completely  stopped  urging  him  or 
me. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  Karl  ate  com- 
paratively little  meat.  This  practice  was  long 
continued,  but  his  rations  were  increased  from 
year  to  year,  especially  when  we  noticed  that 
he  was  growing  more  than  usual,  or  when  we 
had  some  other  reason  for  assuming  that  more 
nourishing  food  would  be  good  for  him. 

For  this  purpose  we  noted  every  day,  often 
more  than  once  a  dpv,  Karl's  complexion, 
appetite,  activity,  and  spirits, — and  also,  later, 
the  ease  with  which  his  mind  worked,  but 
more  especially  his  growth.  His  height  was 
marked  on  a  door-post.  He  was  measured 
the  first  of  each  month,  and  as  a  rule  the  in- 


2IO        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

crease  in  height  was  noticeable  every  time.  If 
it  was  greater  than  usual,  we  gave  him  a  little 
more  meat. 

It  needs  no  proof  that  much  meat  is  inju- 
rious to  the  stomach  and  the  intestines  of  chil- 
dren. It  putrefies  with  the  least  disorder  to 
which  they  are  subjected,  and  ruins  the  purity 
of  the  juices,  from  which  various  troubles  nat- 
urally result. 

Even  if  the  children  digest  it  all  and  de- 
velop no  visible  bodily  ailment,  it  still  injures 
them,  for  they  become  violent,  arbitrary,  stub- 
born, cruel,  and  so  forth. 

This  lies  in  the  nature  of  things,  and  is 
shown  by  the  wildness  of  the  purely  meat- 
eating  animals  and  the  greater  mildness  of  the 
purely  plant-eating  animals.  I  have  found 
the  same  to  be  the  case  with  men  as  well,  and 
all  the  information  we  have  of  distant  peoples 
agrees  with  my  personal  observation.  We 
had  a  convincing  example,  in  the  case  of  Karl, 
that  an  entirely  vegetable  diet  made  a  child 
almost  too  meek  and  yielding.  I  consider  it 
my  duty  to  report  the  case,  especially  as  the 
contrary  deduction  in  the  opposite  case  may 
thus  be  safely  made. 

By  means  of  careful  treatment  and  diet 


Karl's  Diet  2ii 

Karl,  in  his  third  year,  as  ever  afterward, 
was  neither  too  violent,  nor  too  meek.  At  that 
time  I  decided,  for  sufficient  reasons,  to  make 
a  visit  to  Hamburg  with  my  wife.  Our  great 
question  was  not  what  would  in  the  meanwhile 
become  of  our  property,  but  what  we  should 
do  with  Karl. 

Many  persons  expressed  the  wish  to  take 
Karl  to  their  house  while  we  were  away.  But 
we  were  afraid,  here  of  the  sugar,  there  of  the 
meat,  or  of  too  great  indulgence,  and  so  wa- 
vered for  a  long  time.  At  last  we  decided  to 
intrust  him  to  our  now  deceased  friend  and 
relative.  Merchant  J.  H.  Heintz  in  Leipsic. 
He  had  proved  that  he  knew  how  to  bring  up 
children,  for  his  three  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, all  grown,  did  him  the  greatest  honor. 
Besides,  he  was  the  one  person  who  most 
closely  agreed  with  my  method  of  education. 
In  his  house,  where  we  visited  frequently, 
Karl  was  never  tempted  to  any  of  the  above- 
mentioned  indulgences. 

Heintz  was  perfectly  willing  to  take  Karl 
into  his  house,  but  demanded  detailed  written 
instructions  as  to  how  he  and  his  family  should 
treat  the  child.  I  gave  them  to  him,  but,  per- 
haps, dwelt  too  much  on  the  point  that  Karl 


212        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

should  get  but  little  meat,  or  else  he  and  his 
family,  from  noble  conscientiousness,  took  me 
too  closely  at  my  word.  Anyway,  Karl  in  those 
eight  weeks  that  he  was  with  them,  out  of 
amiable  precaution  did  not  get  enough  meat. 
When  we  called  for  him,  we  were  moved  al- 
most to  tears  by  his  excessive  meekness.  The 
formerly  lively,  kindly  yet  droll,  roguish,  nay, 
at  times  even  wanton  boy  had  completely  dis- 
appeared. Before  us  stood  a  soft,  yielding, 
gently  smiling  being,  who  at  first  did  not  rec- 
ognize us,  and  then  doubtfully  and  weakly  re- 
sponded to  our  ardent  embraces  with  a  tear 
in  his  eye. 

That  very  day,  while  still  in  Leipsic,  I 
gave  him  a  little  more  meat  than  customary, 
and  we  went  back  to  Lochau.  In  two  weeks 
he  was  tumbling  about  merrily  in  the  house, 
in  the  yard,  and  in  the  garden ;  was  as  much  of 
a  rogue  as  before ;  and  again  knew  how,  in  jest, 
to  tease. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

What  we  did  for  Karl's  Moral 
Education 

The  fundamental  rules  which  we  followed 
for  Karl's  moral  development,  and  tried  to 
execute  with  the  greatest  conscientiousness, 
were  these :  Always  to  be  just  and  reasonable, 
stern  but  amiable  toward  him.  If  one  of  us 
had  overlooked  something  in  him  or  had  too 
easily  forgiven  him,  the  other  considered  that 
to  be  as  great  a  fault  as  to  have  been  too  stern 
or  too  vehement,  for,  at  bottom,  both  are 
equally  bad. 

Karl  was  allowed  to  ask  for  anything  that 
was  natural,  that  was  not  unjust,  that  was 
good.  It  was  generally  granted  to  him,  even 
if  we  had  to  add  the  remark  that,  for  this 
reason  or  that,  it  was  no  longer  proper  for 
him.  If  he  asked  for  anything  else,  he  was 
flatly  refused  it,  without  giving  him  any 
further  reasons,  if  he  could  know  them  him- 
self; with  sound  and  comprehensible  reasons, 

213 


214       -^^^  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

if  they  were  still  unknown  to  him.  If  he 
seemed  to  have  forgotten  those  which  he 
knew,  we  quizzed  him,  to  bring  them  back  to 
his  memory. 

Even  in  his  first  year  we  used  to  say,  loudly, 
clearly,  and  earnestly,  "No!"  Then,  perhaps, 
would  rattle  with  two  keys,  or  show  him 
something  new,  saying,  with  emphasis,  "Look, 
Karl !"  He  generally  looked  at  what  we  held 
before  him,  listened  to  our  words,  and  thus 
forgot  what  he  wanted. 

It  is  self-understood  that  such  a  helpless 
creature  could  not  be  allowed  to  suffer  any 
want  in  food  and  drink,  in  cleanliness  and 
order,  for  otherwise  he  would  not  have  been 
satisfied  with  the  rattling  of  the  keys,  for  the 
bodily  want  would  have  returned  the  mo- 
ment the  curiosity  was  satisfied.  But  I  dare 
say  that  our  child  never  suffered  in  that 
direction. 

After  a  short  time  we  hardly  needed  to  do 
anything  more  than  turn  his  attention  to  some 
other  thing,  for  he  soon  noticed  that  "Yes  I" 
with  us  meant  "Yes!"  and  "No"  meant  "No!" 
whether  he  afterward  cried  or  laughed.  Thus 
he  imperceptibly  became  accustomed  to  obey 
implicitly,  and  I  can  aver  that  we  had  noth- 


Karl's  Moral  Education  215 

ing  to  desire  in  this  respect,  until  we  took 
some  boys  to  our  house  to  educate. 

Implicit  obedience  is  infinitely  more  im- 
portant than  one  would  usually  think,  for  a 
child  is  again  and  again  on  the  point  of  doing 
something  by  which  he  may  hurt  himself. 
To  the  obedient  child  you  need  only  call  out, 
"Do  not  do  that,  my  child  I"  or  simply  call 
him  by  name,  and  he  will  stop  at  once,  will 
stand  still,  will  pay  attention,  and  so  forth. 
Then  you  can  impart  to  him  the  reasons  for 
the  prohibition,  in  order  to  safeguard  the 
child  in  a  future  similar  situation.  You  may 
call  to  a  disobedient  child  as  loudly  as  you 
wish.  Not  being  in  the  habit  of  obeying,  he 
will  go  on  doing  what  he  wanted,  and  then 
it  is  too  late,  for  the  damage  has  been  done. 

One  incident  will  serve  as  an  example  and 
proof  of  the  freedom  of  action  which  Karl 
enjoyed  and  in  which  he  was  protected 
against  everybody.  In  the  nature  of  things 
his  mother  was  in  the  first  two  or  three  years 
of  his  life  dearer  to  him  than  I.  I  was  much 
in  my  study,  out  on  business,  or  away  from 
the  house.  When  I  was  in  his  presence,  I 
earnestly,  nay,  severely,  insisted  upon  order, 
cleanliness,  obedience,  etc.,  and  thus  obtained 


2i6        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

things  which  his  mother,  as  a  feminine  being, 
either  was  not  able  to  obtain  or,  from  motherly 
love  or  even  carelessness,  had  overlooked. 

The  little  fellow  could  not  grasp  my  atti- 
tude yet,  nor  recognize  the  justice  and  pater- 
nal amiability  in  it  all.  Hence  he  loved  his 
mother  more  than  me.  I  had  long  noticed 
it,  but  I  was  satisfied,  for  it  seemed  natural 
to  me.  Once  we  were  sitting  all  three  on  a 
sofa,  and  Karl  was  playing  most  tenderly 
with  my  wife.  But  she,  in  the  goodness  of 
her  heart,  kept  pointing  to  my  side,  and  the 
child  turned  to  fondle  me  also,  but  immedi- 
ately went  back  to  his  mother.  She  shoved 
him  once  more  over  to  my  side,  whispering 
to  him  to  be  more  tender  toward  me.  I  imme- 
diately addressed  her  with  much  earnestness: 

"For  the  Lord's  sake,  let  him  fondle  whom- 
soever he  wishes,  for  it  is  right  so!  He  now 
loves  you  more  than  me,  and  he  must,  if  I  am 
not  to  reprove  him.  He  cannot  help  mani- 
festing it  unless  he  is  a  hypocrite.  But  the 
time  will  come,  when  I  will  do  more  for  him 
than  you.  Then  he  will  certainly  honor  me, 
if  not  love  me,  more." 

My  wife  understood  me.  She  gave  him  his 
will,  and  that  time  has  actually  come. 


Karl's  Moral  Education  217 

So  far  as  it  was  in  any  way  possible,  I  tried 
to  keep  his  judgments  pure  and  free.  The 
thousands  of  prejudices  pro  and  con,  which 
are  inculcated  in  the  ordinary  education, 
cling  to  people  to  their  graves,  and  immeas- 
urably interfere  with  their  clear  perception 
in  the  affairs  and  incidents  of  life. 

I  know  full  well  that  one  must  not  speak 
at  all  with  children  about  certain  things, 
while  other  things  should  be  mentioned  only 
with  great  caution  and  reserve,  and  other 
things  again  should  not  be  broached  until 
they  have  formed  and  expressed  their  own 
opinion  about  them.  But  then  their  opinion 
should  not  be  lied  away,  in  so  far  as  it  is 
right  I  will  only  grant  this  much,  that  it 
may  be  somewhat  softened,  with  the  use  of 
the  greatest  caution,  so  that  its  rough  edges 
shall  be  polished  off. 

If  Karl,  as  a  child,  passed  in  society  a  cor- 
rect but  too  abrupt  or  harsh  a  judgment,  I 
let  it  stand,  but  said  to  the  persons  present, 
in  half  jest,  "You  see,  he  is  a  village  boy  I  You 
must  not  take  it  ill  of  himl" 

Karl  soon  came  to  understand  that  he  had 
in  such  cases  uttered  a  correct  but  improper 
statement,  and  he  was  sure,  when  we  were 


21 8        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

alone,  to  ask  me  the  "Why?"  of  it.  Then  I 
had  a  good  opportunity  to  show  him  the  pros 
and  cons  of  the  case,  and  to  get  him  used  to 
better  manners,  without  narrowing  his  intel- 
lect or  doing  his  heart  any  injury.  Above  all 
I  tried,  whenever  possible,  to  refer  it  to  a 
higher  morality  and  to  true  piety.  In  such  a 
case  I  would  calmly  say: 

"Your  judgment  was  strictly  correct,  but 
though  I  must  acknowledge  this,  it  was  not 
good  or  kind  of  you  to  utter  it.  You  should 
hardly  have  spoken  it  in  the  presence  of  your 
parents,  and  never  in  the  presence  of  others. 
Did  you  observe  how  embarrassed  Mr.  N. 
was?  He  could  not,  or  would  not,  contradict, 
perhaps  from  love  and  respect  for  us,  but  he 
was  much  hurt  to  have  a  child  tell  him  some- 
thing unpleasant.  If  he  is  out  of  sorts  to-day 
or  others  make  fun  of  him,  you  are  to  be 
blamed  for  it!" 

Karl  was  certainly  moved  by  this  deeply, 
and  was  truly  sorry  for  having  pained  him. 
But  let  us  suppose  Karl  did  not  see  his  mis- 
take and,  instead,  answered,  "But  he  was 
friendly  with  me  all  the  time,"  I  should  then 
have  replied: 

"Perhaps  from  pity  for  you,  because  my 


Karl's  Moral  Education  219 

words,  *He  is  a  village  boy,'  showed  him  the 
real  state  of  affairs.  You  have  certainly  not 
gained  respect,  love,  and  gratitude  for  your- 
self by  your  embarrassing  judgment.  You 
do  not  seem  to  have  noticed  that  the  persons 
present  anxiously  watched,  now  you,  now  me, 
now  him,  and  the  conversation  would  have 
halted,  if  I  had  not  turned  it  to  something 
else  that  attracted  them  vividly." 

I  again  assume  the  truly  unthinkable  case 
that  Karl  was  still  not  ashamed,  but  would 
have  answered,  "But  it  was  true  I"  I  would 
have  corrected  him  more  earnestly: 

"Are  you  sure  about  that?  It  may  very 
well  be  that  you  are  mistaken.  How  if  he 
had  answered,  *A  reason  with  which  you  are 
not  acquainted  compelled  me  to  act  that  way.' 
How  then?  Or  if  he  had  said  to  you,  'Are 
you  my  judge?  You,  a  little,  unreasoning 
child?'  Even  if  it  was  true,  unconditionally 
true,  his  statement  being  wrong, — which  I, 
however,  still  doubt, — ought  you  not  have 
kept  silence  from  consideration  for  him?  Did 
you  not  observe  that  we  were  all  silent?  Or 
are  you  so  simple  as  to  believe  that  you  alone 
noticed  the  mistake  in  his  actions? 

"Tell  me,  my  child,  how  would  you  like 


220        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

it,  if  he,  and  a  hundred  others,  should  take 
you  up  for  your  oversights,  weaknesses,  care- 
lessness, blunders,  and  so  forth,  and  should 
even  lay  them  before  the  eyes  of  strangers? 
And  that  would  be  a  mere  trifle,  for  it  would 
be  a  grown  man  who  would  reprove  a  child, 
which  would  be  perfectly  proper  and  un- 
questionably right.  The  child  would  not  be 
harmed  by  such  a  reproof,  for  from  an  un- 
reasoning being  like  you  people  expect  a  lot 
of  things  which  are  not  just  right,  and  they 
pass  over  them  lightly,  or  pardon  them  alto- 
gether. 

"Or  do  you  imagine  that  other  people  do 
not  observe  your  mistakes?  You  are  wrong 
there  1  Out  of  kindness  toward  you,  or,  per- 
haps, toward  others  as  well,  they  pass  over 
them  in  silence  and  do  not  embarrass  you  by 
mentioning  them  to  you.  But  several  of  my 
friends,  who  love  you  sincerely,  have  often 
told  me  or  your  mother  of  incidents  which 
do  you  no  honor.  They  did  not  tell  about  them 
to  any  one  else,  and  they  told  them  to  us  only 
because  they  wished  to  improve  and  ennoble 
you. 

"This  noble  kindness  pleases  you,  does  it 
not?     Very  well,  then  you  must  act  in  the 


Karl's  Moral  Education  221 

same  manner.  What  you  wish  that  people 
should  do  to  you,  you  must  do  first  to  them  I' 

"To  tell  the  truth,  to  tell  it  in  a  harsh  and 
provoking  manner,  to  be  severely  just  and 
painfully  search  out  the  faults  of  your  fellow- 
man,  or  even  reprove  him  for  them,  without 
any  particular  reason  for  it,  in  the  presence 
of  others,  is  far  removed  from  being  good, 
yet  being  good  is  something  unspeakably 
beautiful,  for  we  call  for  this  very  reason  the 
sum  of  all  perfection  *God,'  that  is,  'Good.' 
You,  too,  my  child,  wish  to  become  like  God. 
If  you  do,  you  must  perfect  yourself  as  much 
as  possible.  Above  all,  do  not  forget  to  be 
good." 

I  am  sure  that  by  that  time  Karl  would 
have  promised,  with  tears  of  contrition,  never 
again  to  pain  a  person  in  that  manner,  and  I 
am  convinced  that  only  human,  more  par- 
ticularly childish,  weakness  could  ever  have 
led  him  to  do  so. 

But  for  my  purpose  I  will  assume  that, 
none  the  less,  he  will  retort,  "Shall  I  tell  an 
untruth?"  Assuming  this,  I  would  have 
replied: 

"Not  in  the  least!  For  then  you  would  be 
lying  or  be  a  hypocrite.    But  there  is  no  need 


222        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

of  all  that.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  keep 
quiet.  It  would,  indeed,  be  a  sad  life  for 
you,  for  me,  and  for  all  men,  if  everybody 
were  to  search  out  the  faults  or  foibles  of  his 
acquaintances,  and  ruthlessly  tell  of  them  be- 
fore others.  That  would  be  an  eternal  war 
of  all  against  all,  for  no  man  is  without  faults. 
No  one  would  be  at  rest.  Everybody  would 
have  to  be  constantly  on  the  watch,  in  order 
to  strike  or  to  protect  himself.  Would  that 
be  living  with  each  other  as  men,  as  Chris- 
tians, as  children  of  one  father,  as  representa- 
tives of  the  highest  Good?" 

But  I  do  the  poor  boy  an  injustice.  It  may 
be  that  I  have  told  him  all  that,  but,  I  am 
sure,  never  at  one  time,  for  so  much  was  not 
necessary  to  cause  him  to  perceive,  regret,  and 
mend  faults  against  morality  or  piety.  I  have, 
however,  forgotten  to  mention  that  I  would 
also  have  told  him  some  appropriate  story, 
which  indeed  the  reader  will  surmise,  from 
previous  hints. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

How  Karl  Learned  to  Read  and  Write 

One  of  Karl's  favorite  amusements  was  to 
look  at  pictures.  We  naturally  explained  to 
him  everything  worth  knowing  in  a  picture, 
and  afterward  we  had  him  describe  it  to  us, 
now  as  his  teachers,  now  as  his  pupils.  So 
long  as  he  could  not  read,  we  used  to  say 
regretfully: 

"Oh,  if  you  only  knew  how  to  readl  It  is 
a  most  interesting  story,  but  I  have  no  time 
to  tell  it  to  you." 

If  we  then  went  away,  he  looked  at  the 
story  in  the  picture-book  as  at  a  talisman 
whose  secret  powers  were  useless  to  him,  be- 
cause he  lacked  the  magic  word  with  which 
to  unlock  it.  At  times  he  would  create  for 
himself  another  story  from  the  picture,  which 
he  related  to  us  in  order  that  we  might  give 
him  the  real  story.^  Thus  we  roused  in  him 
by  degrees  the  desire  for  reading. 

*The  telling  of  stories  was  indeed  an  essential  part  of 
Karl's  early  education,  and  I  cannot  sufficiently  recommend 

223 


224        -^^^  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

Meanwhile  I  bought  Basedow's  elementary 
work,  with  the  explanatory  text,  then  a  num- 
ber of  other  appropriate  readers  with  etch- 
ings. I  must  remark  here  that  many  of  these 
unfortunately  were  borrowed  from  Basedow, 
and  often  were  inferior  to  those  in  his  book. 
However,  since  I  myself  had  a  fairly  large 
collection  of  etchings,  from  which  I  from 
time  to  time  selected  what  was  appropriate 
for  Karl's  observation,  he  generally  had  a  suf- 
ficient supply  of  pictures  during  the  rough 
season.  In  good  weather.  Nature,  or  what 
we  saw  on  our  journeys,  and  in  the  evening 
the  starred  heavens,  were  his  picture-book. 
This  turning  from  one  to  another,  from  books 
to  life,  was  of  incalculable  value  to  the  child. 

When  we  got  so  far  as  to  have  Karl  ex- 
press a  desire  to  learn  reading — he  was  then 

it  to  other  parents — particularly  the  invention  and  telling  of 
stories  to  inculcate  specially  needed  lessons.  Such  stories, 
properly  told,  are  not  readily  forgotten  by  a  child.  At  times, 
if  Karl  acted  like  some  bad  boy  of  whom  he  had  heard  a 
story,  we  only  needed  briefly  and  emphatically  to  say,  "Mar- 
tin," or  "Peter,"  and  he  understood  perfectly.  I  would  also 
recommend  the  learning  by  heart  of  short  poems,  which, 
however,  should  be  readily  comprehensible.  One  may  begin 
with,  "Children,  how  great  all  the  Pleasures  will  be,"  or  with 
"When  I  am  good,"  and  by  gradually  giving  more  difficult 
poems  one  may  in  a  short  time  reach  Schiller.  The  child 
will  understand  everything,  and  his  mind,  morality,  piety, 
taste,  conduct,  and  memory  will  thus  be  trained. 


Learning  to  Read  and  Write        225 

between  three  and  four  years  old — I  bought 
in  Leipsic  ten  sets  of  the  German  printed  let- 
ters, large  and  small,  similarly  ten  sets  of  the 
Latin  alphabet,  of  the  diacritical  and  other 
marks,  and  of  the  numbers  from  o  to  9.  Every 
letter  was  three  inches  high  and  pasted  on  a 
piece  of  wood.  I  threw  the  whole  into  a  box, 
and  showed  it  to  him  as  a  new  game,  the  letter 
game. 

Then  all  three  of  us  sat  down  on  the  car- 
pet, fished  out  the  German  small  letters, 
mixed  them  all  up,  and  blindly  picked  up 
one  of  them.  The  letter  so  taken  up  was  care- 
fully and  solemnly  surveyed  and  loudly  and 
distinctly  named.  It  went  from  hand  to  hand, 
and  everybody  did  the  same.  At  first  we  so 
arranged  it  that  only  the  vowels,  a,  e,  or  i,  etc., 
would  reappear  frequently.  We  then  held 
each  before  Karl,  before  naming  it  ourselves, 
and  if  he  recognized  it,  we  fondle^TtfiTn.  If 
he  did  not  recognize  it,  we  would  laughingly 
say,  "ORTyou  sTTTy~chird,  it  is  an  a  or  e,"  etc. 

I  assure  you,  it  took  but  a  few  days,  and 
only  a  few  quarters  of  an  hour  each  day,  for 
Karl  to  know  all  the  letters. 

The  German  capital  letters  were  intro- 
duced now  and  then,  as  if  by  accident.    Now 


226        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

my  wife  asked  me,  now  I  my  wife,  now  Karl 
one  of  us,  to  look  carefully  at  the  capital 
and  tell  how  it  differed  from  the  corre- 
sponding small  letter.  This  may  be  varied 
at  will. 

When  he  had  mastered  both  kinds  of  let- 
ters, I  secretly  threw  in  a  few  of  the  Latin 
small  letters.  If  one  of  them  made  its  ap- 
pearance, it  was  admired  and  ridiculed  in 
common  for  having  lost  its  way  among  the 
German  letters.  Karl  had  to  look  for  the 
corresponding  German  letter  and  to  compare 
the  two.  In  this  way  he  very  soon  learned 
the  Latin  small  letters,  after  which  the  next 
step,  to  the  Latin  capitals,  was  very  easy, 
especially  as  he  began  to  play  with  the  letters 
by  himself. 

As  soon  as  he  had  learned  the  letters,  we 
began  to  put  together  syllables  and  words. 
We  naturally  chose  as  funny  ones  as  we  could, 
or  let  him  choose  them.  At  other  times,  some 
friend  of  ours  would  ask  Karl  to  teach  him 
the  letter  game,  pretending  that  he  did  not 
know  it,  or,  as  a  reward  for  some  good  action 
of  the  child,  he  offered  to  play  the  game  with 
him.  Thus  we  rearranged  the  instruction  in 
many  ways,  and  in  a  short  and  easy  manner 


Learning  to  Read  and  Write        227 

attained  what  we  wished,  without  really 
teaching  him  reading. 

He  knew  all  the  letters  perfectly;  he 
formed  syllables  and  words  from  them  quite 
correctly  and  without  any  labor;  he  even  com- 
posed sentences.  He  had  also  learned  the 
marks  and  the  numbers,  and  knew  how  to 
use  them.  That  was  all  I  wanted  for  the 
time  being,  as  I  was  afraid  of  precocity.  Now, 
when  Karl  was  four  years  old,  I  visited,  with 
my  friends  Glaubitz  and  Tillich,  the  Pesta- 
lozzi  Institute  and  traveled  at  the  same  time 
through  Switzerland  and  Upper  Italy.  My 
wife,  who  was  always  afraid  that  Karl,  on  ac- 
count of  his  mediocre  ability,  would  not  learn 
much,  and  who  saw  with  anxiety  how  little 
I,  apparently,  was  doing  for  him,  used  my 
long  absence  to  teach  him  to  read,  as  she 
wished  to  surprise  me  with  his  accomplish- 
ment. 

What  I  had  feared  actually  happened. 
The  child,  who  heretofore  had  learned  every- 
thing from  Nature,  from  his  surroundings, 
and  from  illustrations,  using  the  little  objects, 
such  as  building-blocks  and  letters  only  as  a 
game,  became  considerably  embarrassed  and 
discouraged  when  he  had  to  busy  himself  with 


228        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

mere  printed  words,  of  which  four,  six,  or 
even  eight  in  a  row  made  no  sense  at  all  or 
no  attractive  sense  whatsoever. 

The  letters  from  which  Karl  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  forming  his  own  words,  or  those 
funny  ones  which  we  made  for  him  to  pro- 
nounce, had  been  three  inches  in  height, 
while  those  which  were  not  at  all  entertaining 
were  only  a  line  in  size.  All  that  displeased 
him,  and  made  his  mother's  instruction  very 
hard.  Thank  Heaven  that  it  did  not  entirely 
discourage  Karl. 

When  I  returned,  Louise  had  by  dint  of 
hard  work  gotten  him  to  read  laboriously.  I 
acknowledged  her  good-will  gratefully,  but 
in  reality  put  little  value  upon  what  she  had 
accomplished,  because  Karl  was  not  to  have 
such  instruction  as  yet,  partly  because  I  had 
not  yet  noticed  in  him  any  lively  desire  to 
read  in  books.  I  was  afraid  that  general  in- 
struction would  annoy  him,  when  I  heard  him 
refuse  to  read  a  short  story,  even  though  we 
assured  him  that  it  was  funny  and  would 
amuse  him.  "I  thank  you,"  he  said,  "I  do  not 
want  to  read  it,  I  know  it  already." 

I  would  easily  have  been  persuaded  into 
allowing  him  to  forget  the  whole  laboriously 


Learning  to  Read  and  Write        229 

acquired  art  of  reading,  but  that  would  have 
pained  my  wife.  At  that  very  time  I  was 
writing  about  the  Pestalozzi  Institute  and 
thinking  a  great  deal  about  the  teaching  and 
learning  of  reading.  I  was  thus  induced  to 
search  for  all  kinds  of  means  for  making  read- 
ing agreeable  to  Karl,  so  that  he  would  be 
able  quickly  and  with  pleasure  to  enjoy  the 
fruits  of  his  endeavor;  and  I  was  uncommonly 
happy  when  I  found  a  few  very  short,  and  yet 
droll  stories,  which  he  liked  to  read  and 
which  he  of  his  own  accord  frequently  read  to 
us,  with  a  merry  laugh.  "Do  you  see,"  I  said, 
"what  a  pleasure  it  is  to  be  able  to  read?  See 
what  pleasure  you  will  have  from  it  soon,  in 
the  winter,  when  you  cannot  play  in  the 
open!"  Our  friends,  too,  asked  him  to  amuse 
them  by  reading  to  them,  and  thus  I  attained 
what  I  wanted.  He  became  fonder  and  fonder 
of  it,  and  it  was  not  long  before  I  could  pur- 
chase appropriate  books  for  him.  He  read 
them  eagerly,  some  of  them  two  and  three 
times. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  his  correct  in- 
tonation. His  reading  facility  he  owed  to 
himself,  for  it  was  a  rule  with  me  ( i )  to  instill 
him  with  love  for  his  study,  (2)  to  teach  him 


230       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

the  most  necessary  thing,  (3)  to  make  the  in- 
struction as  comprehensible  and  easy  as  pos- 
sible. After  all  that  had  been  obtained,  we, 
his  parents,  with  the  occasional  help  of  our 
friends,  merely  encouraged,  furnished  the  op- 
portunity, praised,  and  rewarded  him.  He 
did  the  rest  himself. 

I  should  have,  indeed,  had  too  much  to  do, 
if,  with  my  official  duties,  with  the  many 
things  which  I  then  had  to  prepare  for  the 
printer,  and  with  the  frequent  journeys  de- 
volving on  me,  I  had  tried  to  carry  to  com- 
pletion the  child's  education.  That  would 
have  by  far  surpassed  my  time,  strength,  and 
desire,  and,  besides,  would  have  been  entirely 
against  my  plan. 

For  the  same  reason  I  did  not  formally 
teach  Karl  writing.  We  frequently  spoke  to 
one  another,  to  him,  and  to  others,  in  his  pres- 
ence, of  the  great  usefulness  of  writing,  and 
we  frequently  gave  him  inducements  for  the 
desire  to  write.  But  we  did  not  help  him  out, 
at  least  not  for  any  length  of  time,  and  only 
after  his  repeated  requests.  At  first  he  drew 
the  printed  letters.  When,  after  a  while,  we 
jested  him  about  them  and,  at  his  request, 
gave  him  the  written  letters,  he  began  to  draw 


Learning  to  Read  and  Write        231 

these  too,  and  finally  was  able  to  do  easily 
what  others  obtain  only  after  laborious  study 
— that  is,  he  was  able  to  copy  and  put  down 
whatever  he  pleased. 

How  much  time  both  he  and  I  have  thus 
saved!  How  much  more  he  has  been  able 
to  enjoy  the  fresh  air!  How  much  more 
rarely  he  has  been  scolded,  and  how  much 
easier  it  has  been  for  him  to  keep  his  hands, 
face,  and  garments  clean.  If  he  wants  to 
write  caligraphically,  he  can  acquire  this  art, 
as  I  have,  in  his  nineteenth  or  twentieth  year 
in  a  period  of  four  weeks,  without  having 
wasted  much  of  his  previous  time. 

One  important  reason  why  I  did  not  teach 
him  writing  in  the  usual  way,  was  this,  that 
I  did  not  want  him  to  train  his  attention  for 
writing  and  then  for  depending  on  the  written 
word.  This  is  so  frequently  done,  especially 
at  university  lectures,  and  all  it  produces  is 
heroes  of  memory.  If  such  writing  machines 
do  not  repeat  exactly  what  has  been  com- 
mitted to  paper,  they  do  not  turn  out  to  be 
even  heroes  of  memory.  But  my  son  always 
paid  attention  to  what  was  said,  and  made 
but  the  rarest  use  of  notes,  hence  he  was  able 
to  master  the  whole  of  a  lecture,  which  he 


232        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

soon  did  to  the  complete  satisfaction  of  his 
academic  teachers,  as  well  as  my  own,  as  their 
testimonies  certify. 

I  here  communicate  still  another  letter 
game,  which  we  learned  later  in  Wildeck  at 
the  court  of  Hessen-Rothenburg.  The  players 
seated  themselves  about  a  round  table.  Upon 
it  were  thrown  a  large  mass  of  letters,  ciphers, 
etc.  (about  an  inch  in  height  and  pasted  on 
cardboard).  Now  each  one  in  the  company 
took  a  few  of  them  and  formed  one,  two,  three, 
or  more  syllables  with  them.  Then  he  mixed 
them  up  and  gave  them  to  his  neighbor.  There 
are  five  words,  he  would  say.  The  first  begins 
with  k,  the  second  with  p,  the  third  with  v, 
the  fourth  with  h,  the  fifth  with  r.  At  the 
same  time  the  letters  were  placed  vertically 
below  one  another,  so  that  the  person  search- 
ing could  more  easily  observe  them  all  and 
form  the  words  desired.  This  may  lead  to  an 
incredible  facility.  The  very  beautiful  and 
intellectual  Klotilde,  Princess  of  Hessen- 
Rothenburg,  guessed  almost  anything  in  a  few 
moments,  no  matter  whether  it  was  German, 
French,  or  Italian.  The  players  may  tease 
one  another  by  questions  and  answers,  and  a 


Learning  to  Read  and  Write        233 

thousand  opportunities  present  themselves  for 
attractively  occupying  the  mind. 

All  the  useful  and  pleasing  games  w^hich 
we  learned  in  Berlin,  Leipsic,  etc.,  or  else  read 
about,  we  played  with  Karl,  purposely  con- 
fusing him,  as  much  as  the  rule  of  the  game 
allowed.  Very  often  we  arbitrarily  modified 
the  game,  whenever  we  saw  that  it  would  thus 
be  improved.  This  is  very  instructive,  because 
one  thus  enters  into  the  inner  structure  of  the 
game,  hence  passes  from  the  mechanical  exe- 
cution of  the  rules  to  a  conscious  reasoning 
about  them.  When  Karl  later  had  mastered 
higher  mathematics,  it  became  an  easy  matter 
for  him  to  play  well  every  game  that  was 
based  on  calculation,  to  make  changes  in  such 
games,  or  to  invent  entirely  new,  and  often 
much  more  attractive,  ones.  I  must  confess, 
I  was  perplexed  when  he  made  the  first  at- 
tempt at  this. 

I  paid  sleight-of-hand  men  to  teach  us  some 
of  their  tricks  and  to  explain  others.  I  thus  at- 
tained my  object,  which  was  that  Karl  should 
not  only  watch  the  performance,  but  should 
also  try  to  find  the  key  to  this  or  that  trick 
himself,  in  which  he  frequently  was  success- 


234       ^^^  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

ful.  As  soon,  however,  as  I  noticed  that  he 
by  his  ability  in  imitation  acquired  what  in 
the  end  is  a  useless  art  of  winning  admiration 
and  applause,  especially  from  the  fair  sex,  I 
avoided  such  occasions,  and,  favored  by  cir- 
cumstances, I  let  him  forget  his  tricks  and 
his  skill  in  them.  Consequently,  the  rich 
spring  of  bubbling  applause  ran  dry,  even  as 
I  wished. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

On  the  Separation  of  Work  and  Play 

Abbe  Gaultier  is  right — one  may  accomplish 
an  unusual  amount  with  children  by  means 
of  a  sensibly  devised  and  guided  game.  I 
differ  from  him  only  in  this,  that  I  set  aside 
every  day  a  small  amount  of  time  for  formal 
instruction,  which  is  not  given  playfully, 
though  merrily.  At  first  I  was  moved  to  do 
this  by  my  natural  instinct.  Later  I  pondered 
it  carefully.  Here  are  the  fruits  of  my  re- 
flections : 

Since  Gaultier  has  been  practicing  his 
method  for  thirty  years,  having  worked  it  out 
in  marvelous  detail,  his  pupils  should  have 
become  not  only  possessed  of  much  knowl- 
edge, but  should  also  have  turned  out  to  be 
men  of  great  and  particularly  quick  mental 
powers.  One  should  hear  in  France  of  a  num- 
ber of  superior  men,  who  have  come  from 
Gaultier's  school,  whereas  this  is  not  the  case. 
What  is  the  cause  of  it?    I  say:  The  boy  who 

235 


236       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

in  his  early  years  has  learned  everything  play- 
fully, will  continue  to  wish  to  learn  in  that 
manner.  If  he  cannot  do  so,  he  will  lose  the 
desire  for  learning.  If  he  enters  business  life, 
where  there  can  be  no  thought  of  playing, 
where  he  will  find  everything  determined  ac- 
cording to  order  in  place,  time,  and  circum- 
stances; where  iron  necessity  demands,  now 
this  activity,  now  that;  and  where  the  question 
is  always  of  work,  then  he  feels  out  of  sorts, 
hankers  for  his  former  playing,  and  life  ap- 
pears tiresome  and  annoying  to  him.  He 
will,  consequently,  accomplish  but  little,  no 
matter  what  may  be  expected  of  him. 

Therefore  I  stuck  to  my  method,  which  was 
carefully  to  separate  work  from  play.  Each 
of  these  had  and  retained  its  specific  manner. 
For  example,  in  a  game  I  liked  to  have  Karl 
put  his  mental  powers  to  full  activity,  and  we  ' 
tried  to  stimulate  them,  but  that  was  not  a 
requisite.  If  he  did  differently,  we  would 
perhaps  act  as  though  we  did  not  notice  it, 
or  we  would  laugh  at  him,  saying,  "Oh,  you 
little  goose!  is  that  all  you  know?"  If  his 
answer  was  not  appropriate,  not  incisive 
enough,  we  would  again  jest  him,  "You  are, 
indeed,   still   a   very   foolish   little   creature. 


Separation  of  Work  and  Play       237 

One  sees  that  from  your  answers."  He  knew 
then  precisely  what  we  meant  to  convey,  and 
was  sure  to  try  to  be  less  foolish  and  simple. 

It  was  quite  different  in  the  case  of  work. 
"At  first  I  gave  him  a  lesson  of  but  fifteen 
minutes  each  day,  but  during  these  fifteen 
minutes  he  had  to  collect  all  his  mental  pow- 
ers. I  would  have  become  angry  if  he  had 
not  done  so.  He  had  to  perform  everything 
that  was  in  his  power  to  perform.  During 
work  every  visit,  every  inquiry  from  my  wife 
or  the  servant  was  rejected.  I  said  decidedly, 
"I  can't  now!  We  are  working!"  or  "Karl  is 
having  his  lesson  I"  My  wife  and  our  inti- 
mate friends  frequently  gave  me  an  occasion 
— out  of  love  for  Karl — to  pronounce  such 
earnest  words  with  a  somewhat  gloomy  ex- 
pression and  with  decided  emphasis.  The 
firmness  in  executing  my  purpose  went  so  far 
that  even  our  house-dog  knew  the  emphasis 
of  the  words,  "I  must  work  I"  and  calmed 
down  the  moment  we  spoke  these  words  softly 
into  his  ears.  Almost  from  the  outset  this 
made  an  enormous  impression  upon  Karl. 
He  soon  became  accustomed  to  look  upon  his 
work-time  as  something  sacred. 

And  he  had  not  only  to  work  continuously, 


238       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

but  also  with  as  much  vigor  and  rapidity  as 
he  could.  I  was  impatient  if  he  worked  slow- 
ly, even  though  he  did  his  work  well.  This 
has  been  of  very  great  use  to  him;  it  has  given 
his  mind  an  unusual  quickness  of  perception. 
Things  are  often  mere  trifles  to  him,  though 
they  are  very  hard  for  others.  He  is  done, 
when  we  only  get  ready.  He  thus  gains  very 
much  time  for  other  matters,  for  rest,  society, 
and  movement  in  the  open,  yet  he  does  things 
better  and  more  thoroughly  than  we  do. 

In  his  later  years  he  came  properly  to  see 
and  honor  this  invaluable  gain.  In  Vienna 
he  thanked  me  for  it  with  tender  emotion, 
assuring  me  that  while  he  had  not  always 
understood  why  I  demanded  that  he  should 
work  not  only  well  but  also  fast,  he  was  now 
deeply  grateful  to  me  for  the  great  advantage 
he  had  derived  from  my  insistence. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Concerning  Rewards 

We  never  rewarded  Karl  with  money  or 
things  of  value  for  a  good  deed.  His  pure 
joy  at  the  success  of  an  act;  his  pleasure  at 
having  overcome  himself,  and  our  fondling; 
the  noting  down  of  the  occurrence  in  his 
"Book  of  Conduct";  the  greater  attachment 
of  our  friends;  the  firm  conviction  that  God 
loved  him  so  much  the  more,  and  that  he  now 
had  the  power  of  making  one  more  step  in  the 
direction  of  goodness;  finally  (wherever  it 
was  possible  to  place  them  before  him)  the 
wholesome  consequences  of  his  good  deed — 
that  was  all  his  reward.  For  he  was  con- 
vinced that  every  good  act  made  him  more 
like  God,  and  his  highest  wish,  his  most  earn- 
est endeavor,  was  to  become  like  God. 

We  acted  in  the  very  opposite  way  in  the 
case  of  bad  acts.  Thank  Heaven,  he  did  not 
commit  any,  but  even  missteps  were  by  us 
reproved  very  earnestly  and  with  an  expres- 

239 


240       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

sion  of  sorrow.  We  spoke  with  the  greatest 
contempt  of  a  man,  no  matter  who  he  may 
have  been,  who  was  the  cause  of  an  offense. 
I  am  sure  that  a  million  dollars  could  not 
have  moved  my  son  to  offend  any  one  know- 
ingly. 

But  we  had  no  compunction  about  making  a 
monetary  reward  for  his  labors  to  acquire 
knowledge.  On  such  occasions  we  pointed  out 
to  him  that  his  efforts  would  sharpen  his  wits, 
but  his  wits  were,  in  all  our  conversations, 
placed  far  below  his  heart,  especially  his  spirit 
of  piety.  We  assured  him,  and  he  experienced 
it  in  himself,  that  one  could  gain  men's  respect 
by  knowledge  and  mental  powers.  But  he  re- 
spected the  best  more  than  the  many:  the  love 
of  the  best  men,  of  his  parents,  and  of  God 
was  worth  infinitely  more  to  him  than  the 
respect  of  the  masses.  He  knew  also  that  the 
latter  was  unstable,  the  former  stable. 

When  he  had  worked  hard,  we  only  said, 
"That  is  right!  You  have  done  your  duty, 
and  I  am  satisfied  with  you  I"  and  so  forth. 
Then  I  told  his  mother  or  a  friend  about  it 
in  nearly  the  same  words.  A  good  action  of 
his,  however,  was  mentioned  to  him,  to  his 
mother,  or  to  an  intimate  friend,  with  a  joyous 


Concerning  Rewards  241 

sensation,  with  a  kind  of  ecstasy,  as  something 
sacred.  In  short,  we  had  him  keep  in  mind 
that  diligent  work  was  a  preparation  which 
made  one  happy  in  an  earthly  way,  whereas 
noble  actions  gave  one  heavenly  satisfaction. 

However,  I  allowed  monetary  rewards  in 
case  of  work  well  done,  as  a  kind  of  earthly 
recompense.  In  this  I  imitated  business  life 
as  much  as  possible.  So  long  as  his  labors 
were  insignificant,  I  gave  him  extremely  lit- 
tle, and  he  knew  full  well  that  he  had  not 
earned  even  that  little,  but  that  he  received 
it  as  a  visible  recognition  of  his  earnest  en- 
deavor. Besides,  I  was  careful  not  to  satiate 
him  in  matters  of  rewards.  I  knew  that  re- 
wards easily  passed  into  mere  payments,  and 
thus  lost  their  higher  value.  But  this  was  not 
to  happen  in  the  case  of  Karl. 

I  am  almost  ashamed  to  mention  the  fact 
that  for  a  day  on  which  he  had  read  German 
very  well,  and  had  otherwise  behaved  well, 
he  received  only  one  penny  as  a  reward.  But 
for  this  very  reason  I  was  able  in  later  years, 
so  long  as  such  a  direct  reward  was  necessary 
on  account  of  the  boy's  shortsightedness,  to 
reward  a  particularly  hard  piece  of  work 
with  a  dime.    Oh,  with  what  joyous  gratitude 


242        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

he  used  to  receive  such  money!  I  am  sure 
that  many  a  person  is  not  so  happy  when  re- 
ceiving dollars  I 

Wherever  it  was  possible,  I  kept  an  en- 
nobled civic  life  in  view.  Our  family  was  for 
him  the  State,  I  its  regent,  and  he  a  servant 
of  state.  I  demanded  of  him  that  for  the  weal 
of  all,  consequently  of  himself  as  well,  he 
should  exert  his  whole  strength,  that  is,  should 
do  his  duty,  and  should  make  himself  more 
fit  for  doing  useful  work  in  the  future.  Con- 
sequently all  that  was  written  down  in  his 
"Book  of  Conduct"  was  that  he  had  done 
what  he  should,  that  is,  his  duty.  But  I  ac- 
cepted every  piece  of  work  done  by  him  dili- 
gently and  earnestly  as  something  done  for 
my  benefit.  And  so  I  rewarded  it  with  money. 
This  view  could  be  maintained  the  more  easily 
since  we — the  State — provided  for  him.  It 
was  easy  afterward  for  us  to  give  and  for  him 
to  grasp  the  more  direct  instruction  of  how 
matters  were  done  in  the  State,  since  it  fol- 
lowed from  my  representation. 

The  money  which  he  collected,  on  its  side, 
gave  an  opportunity  for  preparation  for  the 
future.  He  learned  how  to  manage  it  and 
do  good  with  it.    If  he  had  spent  it  on  sweet- 


Concerning  Rewards  243 

meats,  it  would  have  disappeared  very  soon, 
and,  with  his  manner  of  education,  he  would 
not  have  derived  any  real  pleasure  from  this. 
Instead,  he  saved  his  money  until  he  had  a 
sufficient  amount  with  which  to  buy  some- 
thing lastingly  useful.  This  we  approved  of 
and  we  even  secretly  added  enough  money  to 
make  up  the  needed  amount,  and  frequently 
directed  his  attention  to  his  possessions,  to 
their  usefulness  and  durability.  In  the  end  he 
often  made  a  present  of  what  he  had  bought 
to  another  child,  and  thus  gained  the  grati- 
tude of  children  and  the  love  of  their  parents. 
Whenever  there  was  some  misfortune  in 
the  neighborhood,  we  helped  along  according 
to  our  means,  and  we  never  neglected  the 
three,  six,  or  nine  pennies  which  he  offered 
under  such  circumstances.  On  the  contrary, 
we  accepted  them  with  "sincere  thanks"  in 
the  name  of  the  unfortunates,  and  I  sent  them 
to  them,  even  if  the  case  demanded  that  I 
should  change  the  pennies  into  so  many  dimes. 
His  eight  or  twelve  pennies  for  the  organ 
stood  in  my  private  account  close  to  my  twenty 
dollars,  and  I  explained  to  him  that  he  had 
given  at  least  as  much  as  I,  referring  him  to 
the  excellent  words  of  Christ  about  the  poor 


244       ^^^  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

widow's  mite  (Mark  xii,  42-45),  which  he 
had  long  ago  learned  from  the  Biblical 
stories. 

If,  however,  he  had  done  his  very  best  work 
but  at  the  same  time  had  transgressed  against 
the  laws  of  a  higher  morality,  he  received 
no  money.  If  the  transgression  was  small,  I 
would  say: 

"If  to-morrow  you  will  be  as  diligent  as 
to-day,  and  at  the  same  time  will  be  good,  you 
shall  receive  to-day's  portion  also." 

He  was  usually  his  own  severest  judge.  He 
never  became  dissatisfied  with  the  punish- 
ment, but  rather  melancholy  at  his  faulty  con- 
duct, at  the  worry  which  he  thus  had  caused 
us,  and  at  the  loss  of  love  and  respect  from 
the  Highest. 

Very  often  he  pronounced  his  own  sen- 
tence, "No,  I  cannot  get  anything  to-day,  be- 
cause I  did  not  conduct  myself  in  the  proper 
manner."  God  knows  how  hard  it  was  for 
me  then,  for  example,  in  the  case  of  very  small 
transgressions,  not  to  give  him  anything.  I 
would  gladly  have  given  him  double  the 
amount,  and  kissed  him  besides.  I  bravely 
repressed  the  tear  of  joy,  and  calmly  said  to  i 
him,  "That  is  so,  I  did  not  think  of  it!    But, 


Concerning  Rewards  245 

my  boy,"  and  he  was  kissed  none  the  less,  "you 
must  behave  better  to-morrow  I" 

By  this  procedure  we  accomplished  an  in- 
credible amount  of  good.  I  wish  all  parents 
would  do  likewise  for  the  good  of  themselves 
and  of  their  children. 

As  soon  as  a  larger  task  was  done, — for  ex- 
ample, when  a  book  was  read  through  and 
translated, — he  and  I  would  call  out  in  high 
jubilee,  "Long  live  Gedike,  or  Jacobs,  etc." 
That  was  a  sign  for  his  mother,  who,  however, 
had  been  secretly  informed  of  it  by  me  be- 
fore, that  there  was  going  to  be  a  celebration. 

Such  a  celebration  consisted  in  this,  that 
his  mother  prepared  one  of  Karl's  favorite 
dishes,  apple  pie,  waffles  with  warm  beer,  or 
even  an  omelet  with  wine  sauce,  etc.,  for  his 
supper;  that  the  table  was  festively  set;  but 
especially  that  his  father  had  a  bit  of  joyous 
news  to  tell  about  Karl's  diligence  and  zeal, 
about  his  persistence,  his  progress,  his  in- 
creased mental  powers,  the  contents  of  the 
book  just  finished  and  the  one  to  be  begun. 
Thus  was  the  simple  supper  seasoned.  Gen- 
erally his  mother  or  an  intimate  friend,  who 
pretended  to  have  dropped  in  by  accident  or 
had  been  invited  by  Karl,  had  the  king  of 


246       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

the  feast  tell  something  from  the  book  just 
studied,  and  this  gave  him  muct^  pleasure. 

Gratitude  toward  God  for  the  power  and 
health  given  us  for  the  work  successfully  com- 
pleted was  never  forgotten  on  such  occasions, 
and  his  mother  would  remind  him  that  he  also 
owed  thanks  to  his  teacher  for  the  pains  taken 
with  him. 


CHAPTER   XX 

How  Karl  Learned  the  Languages 

In  KarFs  sixth  year  we  made  a  long  journey 
to  Berlin  and  Rostock,  and  on  our  way  back 
visited  our  brother-in-law,  Preacher  Seide  at 
Stendal.  His  youngest  son,  Heinrich,  was 
two  years  older  than  Karl,  a  pretty,  lovely 
boy.  His  stepmother  and  her  sister,  who  both 
loved  him  tenderly,  had  taught  him  so  much 
French  that  he  read  and  translated  very  well, 
and  spoke  and  wrote  it  tolerably  well.  That 
caused  me  so  much  pleasure  that  I  warmly 
expressed  my  respect  and  love  for  the  child 
and  for  his  teachers. 

Louise,  too,  was  heartily  glad  for  her 
nephew,  but  at  the  same  time  was  provoked 
at  me,  because  "Karl  did  not  yet  know  any- 
thing." I  laughed  at  her,  and  assured  her 
that  Karl  knew  quite  a  lot,  just  as  all  our 
relatives  and  friends  had  asserted  in  her  pres- 
ence. Of  course,  he  could  not  know  what  I 
had  not  taught  him. 

"Why  do  you  not  teach  him?"  she  replied. 

247 


248        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

"You  know  it,  and  it  is  really  a  shame  for  us 
that  he  is  still  so  ignorant."  I  reminded  her 
that  the  time  was  not  yet  ripe  for  it.  She 
retorted,  "It  will  not  kill  him  now,  and  you 
cannot  tell  how  long  you  may  live,  consider- 
ing the  state  of  your- health.  It  will  certainly 
take  a  long  time — so  why  should  you  be 
afraid?" 

I  smiled,  and  stuck  to  my  idea.  But  when 
we  went  away  from  Stendal,  and  I  on  the 
way  once  more  mentioned  Heinrich  with 
great  pleasure,  my  wife  again  began  to  urge 
upon  me.  Finally  I  became  annoyed,  and 
said: 

"My  dear,  please  do  not  make  my  journey 
unpleasant  I  I  promise  you  I  will  teach  Karl 
a  foreign  language  as  soon  as  we  are  back 
home.  But  I  tell  you  I  will  not  give  him 
more  than  fifteen  minutes  each  day  for  in- 
struction. I  will  teach  him  only  to  show  you 
that  he  can  learn  when  he  is  taught." 

"You  will  not  forget,  will  you?" 

"Have  I  not  always  kept  my  word,  when  I 
have  made  a  promise?" 

We  were  silent,  and  I  thought  of  Heinrich 
and  of  Karl,  and  of  the  manner  of  the  in- 
struction I  was  going  to  give. 


Learning  the  Languages  249 

I  busied  myself  with  thinking  of  this  dur- 
ing the  rest  of  our  journey.  If  I  had  had 
complete  command  of  Dutch  and  English  (I 
understood  both  tolerably  well),  I  should 
have  begun  with  Plattdeutsch,  which  Karl 
to  some  extent  knew  already  through  my 
wife,  through  me,  and  through  his  frequent 
travels  in  northern  Germany.  Then  I  would 
have  taken  up  in  turn  Dutch,  English, 
French,  Italian,  Spanish,  Latin,  and  finally 
Greek. 

I  should  not  have  been  afraid  of  the  near 
relationship  of  German,  Plattdeutsch,  Dutch 
and  English,  because  the  Plattdeutsch  is  suf- 
ficiently differentiated  from  the  German  for 
an  intelligent  man  to  keep  them  easily  apart. 
Karl  would  be  called  on  to  translate  English 
and  Dutch  into  correct  German,  but  not  Ger- 
man back  into  those  languages,  consequently 
there  would  be  nothing  to  fear  in  the  case  of 
a  properly  instructed  boy,  while  the  learning 
of  the  languages  would  be  very  easy. 

I  also  wish  to  remark  that  in  theory  the 
Greek  language  unites  many  things  which 
make  it  easy  to  learn  immediately  after  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  German  has  been 
acquired.     Both  have  the  article,  decline  the 


250       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

nouns,  etc,  conjugate  the  verbs,  build  up  the 
sentence,  compound  words,  and  so  forth. 
But  who  speaks  or  writes  Greek?  Where  is 
now  the  ancient  Greece?  Have  we  a  Greek 
children's  world?  In  what  way  are  we  to 
stimulate  a  child's  desire  to  study  Greek,  or 
show  him  its  usefulness?  And,  finally,  al- 
though I  read  Greek  with  ease  and  pleasure, 
I  was  far  better  acquainted  with  French  and 
Italian.  And  all  this  is,  in  teaching  lan- 
guages, of  far  more  importance  than  most 
people  would  be  willing  to  admit. 

In  the  end  I  chose,  after  mature  reflection, 
to  start  by  teaching  Karl  the  French  lan- 
guage.   Here  are  my  reasons  for  it: 

I  consider  it  a  duty  to  teach  a  child  only 
that  with  which  he  has  formerly  become  in- 
directly acquainted.  This  was  exactly  the 
case  with  Karl  as  regards  French.  I  both 
spoke  and  read  that  language.  He  was  fre- 
quently in  company  where  I  had  to  speak  it. 
Those  with  whom  I  conversed  in  it  he  re- 
spected and  loved  on  account  of  their  exten- 
sive knowledge,  but  it  pained  him  to  listen 
without  being  able  to  tell  what  they  were 
laughing  about.  My  friends  and  I  generally 
chose  French  for  intimate  conversations.    He 


Learning  the  Languages  251 

had  also  noticed  that  we  were  sometimes  talk- 
ing about  him.  If  he  later  inquired  about 
what  had  been  said,  I  purposely  gave  him 
such  answers  as  only  roused  his  curiosity 
still  more,  and  then  I  would  add: 

"If  you  only  understood  French!  It  would 
give  you  much  pleasure  and  gain  respect  for 
you." 

It  is  true  that  a  boy  who  has  mastered  Latin 
may  with  ease  pass  over  to  the  daughter  lan- 
guages, Italian,  French,  and  so  forth.  But  it 
is  equally  true  that  instruction  in  Latin  be- 
fore instruction  in  the  foreign  languages  must 
appear  as  something  stupid  and  noisome  to 
a  German  boy,  especially  if  by  that  time  his 
spirit  has  been  properly  trained.  Otherwise, 
to  be  sure,  he  patiently  accepts  everything 
like  an  empty  bottle. 

They  say  that  he  who  knows  the  mother 
well  may  easily  become  acquainted  with  her 
daughters.  I  say  to  this  that  he  who  knows 
the  daughters  well  will  more  certainly  and 
more  quickly  become  intimate  with  their 
mother.  For  a  younger  person  it  is,  besides, 
easier  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  daugh- 
ters before  that  of  the  mother. 

And  to  the  assertion  that  he  who  knows 


252        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

Latin  will  find  it  easier  to  learn  Italian, 
French,  etc.,  I  further  answer: 

"Very  well  I  If  I  am  on  the  roof  of  a 
building,  it  is  not  hard  for  me  to  get  to  the 
third,  second,  first  story,  and  finally  to  the 
basement.  But  how  shall  I  get  on  the  roof? 
It  would  surely  be  more  sensible — as  it  is 
easier  and  safer — first  to  enter  the  basement, 
then  to  ascend  to  the  first  story,  the  second, 
the  third,  and  so  forth.  In  this  manner  I  can 
finally  reach  the  roof,  and  that,  too,  in  such 
an  easy  way  that  I  scarcely  notice  it.  The 
difficulty  connected  with  this  is  as  nothing 
in  comparison  with  the  attempt  to  reach  the 
top  from  the  outside.  Besides,  I  can  proceed 
with  less  danger,  because  I  proceed  in  a  nat- 
ural way,  and  it  will  hardly  take  as  much 
time  on  my  way  up  as  on  the  much  praised 
old  way." 

When  I  say  to  a  bright  child  "pater,"  he 
will  immediately  reply,  "That  means  'father.' 
But  where  is  'the'?"  If  I  say,  "It  is  con- 
tained in  the  word  'pater,' "  he  will  laugh 
and  retort,  "That  is  impossible,"  or,  more 
likely,  "stupid."  If,  assuming  that  he  al- 
ready knows  the  German  declensions,  he 
hears  that  "of  the  father"  is  translated  by 


Learning  the  Languages  253 

"patris,"  he  will  stare  at  me  or  become  im- 
patient, because  it  is  unthinkable  to  him  that 
"of  the"  should  be  wanting  in  the  declension. 
It  is  quite  different  with  the  French.  If  I 
say  to  my  pupil,  "  'Father'  is  *le  pere,'  "  he 
is  satisfied,  and  so  he  is  when  he  hears  that 
"of  the  father"  is  "du  pere." 

But  I  pass  over  to  the  verbs.  If  I  say, 
"  'iEdifico'  means  'I  build,'  "  the  boy  becomes 
confused  and  immediately  asks,  "Where  is  the 
T?"  But  it  is  perfectly  clear  to  him  that 
"je  batis"  means  "I  build."  The  same  is  true 
ol  "aedificas,"  "thou  buildest,"  "tu  batis,"  etc. 
In  the  plural  the  Latin  appears  as  a  rule  still 
more  senseless  to  children. 

This  takes  place  in  the  case  of  a  bright,  or 
rather  well-prepared,  boy,  for  the  dull,  or  un- 
prepared, or  improperly  prepared  boy  takes 
everything  in  that  he  is  told,  especially  what 
is  written  down  in  a  book — in,  for  example, 
the  incontrovertible  grammar.  He  goes 
ahead  learning,  even  the  utterly  to  him  in- 
comprehensible "singular,  plural,  nomina- 
tive," etc.  In  fact,  he  is  frightened  when  he 
is  for  the  first  time  asked  whether  he  under- 
stands those  stock  words.  And  so  in  after 
life    he    will    not    understand    hundreds    of 


254       ^^^  Education  of  Karl  W'ltte 

things,  which  he  will  prejudge  in  a  short- 
sighted and  coarse  manner,  demanding  that 
others  should  accept  his  incorrect  view,  only 
because  he  calls  himself  learned. 

Or,  take  the  past  tense,  for  example,  "I 
have  built,  aedificavi."  The  child  must  feel 
quite  uncomfortable  with  it.  How  much 
more  natural  it  is,  "je,  I;  have,  ai;  built, 
bati."  So  with  "Thou  hast  built,"  etc.  Still 
more  perplexing  is  the  subjunctive.  Intelli- 
gent children  are,  in  the  customary  manner 
of  instruction,  tormented  for  a  long  time  by 
it,  without  ever  gaining  a  clear  insight  into 
it.  I  marvel  how  this  can  even  for  a  moment 
be  doubted.  I  may  add  that  in  the  past  twen- 
ty years  a  number  of  bright  young  men  have 
grasped  my  idea  and  that  many  children 
have  since  been  taught  in  accordance  with  it. 

I  first  searched  out  that  which  coincided 
most  closely  with  the  German  and  rendered 
it  exhaustively  into  German  words.  That 
may  generally  be  accomplished,  and  the 
child  retains  it  at  once,  thinks  of  it  at  an- 
other juncture,  and  then  translates  the  words 
correctly.  If  some  irregularity  turned  up,  I 
said,  for  example,  "Now  that  is  nice  I    Here 


Learning  the  Languages  255 

'dire'  does  not  mean  'tell,'  but  'to  tell'  (that 
is,  in  the  expression  'pour  me  dire')."  The 
child  does  not  mind  a  thing  like  that,  if  it 
recurs  regularly,  because  he  has  been  finding 
and  removing  difficulties  before.  The  sen- 
tence, "J'ai  entendu,  qu'on  m'a  appelle.  Est 
il  vrai?"  I  treated  in  the  following  manner. 
I  resolved  "j'ai"  into  "je"  and  "ai,"  and  jest- 
ingly remarked  that  the  French  considered 
"j'ai"  as  more  agreeable  to  the  ear  than  "je 
ai,"  and  that  they  were  not  entirely  wrong  in 
this.  After  a  while  Karl  began  to  feel  the 
same  way  himself,  and  he  took  the  part  of 
the  French.  "  'Je  ai'  or  'j'ai'  means  'I  have,' 
and  'entendu'  means  'heard.'  "  It  was  not 
necessary  to  say  anything  about  "qu'on."  He 
may  have  asked  himself,  "Is  this  not  the 
same  as  in  the  case  of  'je  ai'?"  and  similarly 
he  would  say  that  "m'a"  was  contracted  from 
"me  a."  "Me — me,  a — has,  appelle — called. 
Est — is,  il"  (he  immediately  understood  the 
drawing  over  of  t  to  est,  because  it  was  based 
on  a  similar  principle)  "he,  or  it."  At  this 
point  I  interposed,  "You  must  find  out  for 
yourself  which  of  the  two  is  to  be  used.  All 
I  will  tell  you  for  the  purpose  is  that  'vrai' 


256        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

means  'true.' "  No  sooner  had  I  said  this 
than  he  answered  correctly,  "  '11'  here  means 
'it' " 

It  will  be  objected  that  this  is  a  kind  of 
crippled  translation,  and  that  the  pupil  would 
thus  get  used  to  a  poor  German.  But  I  can 
assure  the  reader  from  long  experience  that 
such  is  not  the  case.  It  may  be  true  to  some 
extent  of  Latin,  because  the  sentence  struc- 
ture differs  too  much  from  that  of  the  Ger- 
man. But  it  does  not  hold  in  the  case  of 
French.  If,  besides,  the  pupil  has  become 
accustomed  to  speak  a  pure  and  fluent  Ger- 
man, he  will,  it  is  true,  at  first  translate  as 
mentioned  above.  But  as  soon  as  the  sen- 
tence is  finished,  he  will  repeat  it  in  correct 
German.  Let  us,  however,  assume  the  almost 
unthinkable  case  that  he  would  not  do  so,  I 
should  still  by  far  prefer  his  precise  and  ex- 
haustive word-for-word  translation  to  giving 
the  sentence  in  good  German,  as  is  usually 
done,  without  clearly  understanding  each 
word. 

"But  what  will  you  put  in  place  of  analy- 
sis?" I  am  asked.  Why,  I  let  Karl  first  mas- 
ter common  sense  and  the  German  language, 
derive,  decline,  transpose,  and  substitute  the 


Learning  the  Languages  257 

separate  words,  etc.,  and  exercise  his  reason. 

After  that  the  translation  from  a  foreign 
language  was  treated  precisely  like  the  read- 
ing of  a  German  author.  The  main  point  was 
that  Karl  should  get  the  exact  meaning  of  the 
passage.  If,  therefore,  a  word  or  phrase  was 
not  clear  to  him,  he  thought  it  over  or  asked 
us.  If  he  failed  to  do  so,  we  asked  him.  In 
short,  he  became  accustomed  to  the  desire  to 
understand  everything.  With  the  above-men- 
tioned method  he  was  never  in  the  dark,  for 
it  is  a  boon  to  a  boy  brought  up  in  this  man- 
ner to  get  an  account  of  the  various  cases  in 
which  a  word  may  occur.  He  considers  it  a 
great  kindness  to  have  it  looked  up  for  him 
in  the  grammar,  have  it  read  to  him,  or 
pointed  out  where  in  the  future  he  may  find 
words  similarly  declined. 

Hence,  whenever  Karl  was  translating,  the 
dictionary  lay  to  the  right,  and  the  grammar 
to  the  left  of  him.  For  the  same  reason,  I 
prefer  for  a  beginner  such  readers  as  have 
small  dictionaries  attached  to  them,  for  the 
looking  up  of  words  in  the  large  dictionary 
may  still  be  too  troublesome  and  confusing. 
Some  readers  have  also  a  small  grammar  con- 
nected with  them,  but  I  have  made  no  use 


258        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

of  these,  because  a  child  should  from  the  start 
become  accustomed  to  the  grammar  which  he 
is  to  use  later.  Habit  is  of  extreme  impor- 
tance here,  and  the  finding  of  the  particular 
references  may  be  made  easy  by  marks  stuck 
between  the  leaves,  thus  making  extracts  from 
them  unnecessary. 

Karl  never  translated  without  having  an 
exhaustive  idea  of  every  expression  and  with- 
out being  ready  to  render  it  into  German.  He 
was,  therefore,  all  the  time  deeply  concerned 
in  knowing  how  the  troublesome  word  was  de- 
clined, whether  it  was  in  the  singular  or  in 
the  plural,  whether  a  noun  or  adjective, 
whether  masculine  or  feminine,  etc. 

One  will  observe  that  he,  too,  analyzed, 
but  (i)  he  himself  had  the  desire  to  do  so, 
and  this  is,  as  in  all  instruction,  the  important 
point;  (2)  he  analyzed  for  a  particular  pur- 
pose, and  that  was,  in  order  to  grasp  the  con- 
text completely.  Consequently  he  was  never 
satisfied  until  he  found  out,  at  first  with  my 
aid,  later  by  himself,  everything  which  would 
clear  up  his  doubts.  At  the  same  time  he  paid 
attention  to  everything  that  stood  in  close  re- 
lation with  the  particular  case,  and,  since  he 
was  used  to  regularity,  clearness,  etc.,  he  was 


Learning  the  Languages  259 

sure  not  to  look  anything  up  in  the  dictionary 
or  grammar  without  purposely  noticing  many 
other  things  connected  with  it,  thus  exercising 
his  memory  and  reason;  (3)  he  analyzed  sen- 
sibly, with  a  clear  consciousness  of  what  he 
was  doing.  Manifestly  such  an  investigation 
of  the  words  in  a  sentence  is  infinitely  more 
useful  than  the  usual  mode  of  analyzing, 

I  frequently  said,  with  due  consideration, 
"If  you  want  to  know  this  precisely,  you  will 
do  well  to  look  it  up  in  the  grammar,  in  the 
dictionary,  etc.,"  and  thus  I  led  him  deeper 
into  the  subject  than  he  had  anticipated. 

But  there  are  other  important  reasons  why 
I  purposely  taught  him  French  before  Latin. 
In  French  we  are  dealing  with  the  present 
world,  instead  of  one  dead  for  millenniums 
and  therefore  foreign  to  the  child.  The  little 
reader  finds  in  his  book  our  customs,  our  hab- 
its, our  climate,  our  buildings,  rooms,  utensils, 
our  society,  our  culture,  our  social  intercourse, 
our  garments,  our  entertainments,  amuse- 
ments, and  so  forth.  He  consequently  always 
feels  at  home,  whereas  Rome  and  Greece, 
especially  with  the  usual  method  of  instruc- 
tion, remain  an  alien  and  less  attractive  world 
to  him.    Nearly  all  the  incidents  in  an  author 


260       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

of  modern  times  seem  to  have  happened  in  the 
boy's  vicinity,  while  stories  from  ancient 
Rome  and  Greece  all  the  time  remind  him 
forcibly  of  the  great  difference  between  their 
world  and  his  surroundings.  This  in  itself 
would  be  sufficient  to  characterize  the  instruc- 
tion which  begins  with  Latin  and  Greek  as 
putting  the  cart  before  the  horse.  But  my 
main  reason  is  still  to  come. 

I  am  indeed  convinced  that  a  child  will  be 
glad  to  learn  reading  any  language,  and  will 
acquire  it  profitably,  only  if  he  is  given  easily 
understood  writings,  best  of  all  such  as  have 
been  written  with  care  for  children.  The 
child  is  to  find  in  them  a  children's  world, 
if  possible.  The  arena,  the  actions,  and  the 
persons  should  be  childlike  (not  childish) ,  and 
we  in  Germany  are  particularly  fortunate  in 
possessing  many  excellent  books  of  the  kind. 
The  French  and  the  English,  even  the  Ital- 
ians, have  for  this  reason  translated  the  better 
German  books  for  children,  although  they  are 
wary  in  translating  our  other  literary  works. 
We  rejoice  in  this  advantage,  and  we  make 
use  of  it  in  our  language.  Should  we  not  do 
the  same  in  a  foreign,  that  is,  a  more  difficult, 
language?     Should  we  here  purposely  push 


Learning  the  Languages  261 

the  children's  world  aside,  and  lead  our  dar- 
lings upon  a  desert  steppe  that  for  them  is 
filled  with  thorns  and  thistles?  I  cannot  be  a 
party  to  it,  for  they  will  wander  about  dis- 
heartened in  it,  and  they  will  bring  back  few 
fruits. 

But  give  them  funny  little  stories  from  their 
circle,  such  as  are  found  in  a  well-prepared 
reader,  and  all  those  who  have  received  the 
right  kind  of  an  education  will  eagerly  learn 
the  language  in  which  they  are  written.  They 
will  gladly  make  the  necessary  efforts  of  mind 
and  memory,  and  will  quickly  and  easily 
overcome  obstacles,  because  their  work  gives 
them  pleasure.  It  will  not  take  long  before 
they  will  of  their  own  accord  read  beyond  the 
task  set  them,  and  you  will  attain  what  you 
wish  to  attain,  if  you  are  sensible.  All  that  is 
needed  besides  is  an  intelligent  guidance,  and 
the  children  attain  to  higher  perfection  by 
themselves. 

I  gave  Karl  as  quickly  as  possible  Berquin's 
"Ami  des  Enfants,"  which  can  be  bought  very 
cheaply  of  Grieshammer  at  Leipsic.  He  read, 
I  believe,  through  eighteen  numbers  of  it,  in 
high  glee,  and  rejoiced  especially  whenever 
he  there  found  the  translation  of  a  German 


262       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

juvenile  story  with  which  he  was  already  ac- 
quainted. He  would  read  ten  pages  of  it 
without  being  asked  to  do  so,  and  soon  learned 
so  much  from  it  that  I  had  to  pass  to  more 
difficult  writings.  He  was  attracted  by  the 
childlike,  droll,  witty  material,  drawn  from 
his  circle,  that  was  so  simple  for  comprehen- 
sion and  appealed  to  his  reason  and  heart. 
This  made  his  none  too  hard  labor  pleasant 
for  him. 

It  would  have  been  quite  another  thing,  if 
I  had  begun  with  Latin  and  had  at  once  given 
him  Cornelius  Nepos,  as  generally  happens. 
I  will  mention  only  a  few  of  the  resultant  dif- 
ficulties, as  compared  with  Berquin.  The 
language  of  Nepos  has  long  been  dead.  No 
man  speaks  it.  It  is  not  native  to  any  country. 
Hence  the  child  foresees  no  reward  for  his 
efforts,  and  yet  any  child,  no  matter  how  un- 
reasoning it  may  be,  must  always  have  that 
clearly  placed  before  its  eyes.  Besides,  that 
language  has  no  article ;  it  declines  and  conju- 
gates differently  from  our  language;  it  places 
the  words  in  the  sentence  so  differently,  so 
bluntly,  and  often  with  such  intricacy  that 
even  grown  persons  find  it  hard  to  make  out 
the  sense. 


Learning  the  Languages  263 

All  that  refers  only  to  the  external  side. 
The  internal  side  is  much  worse  off.  Books 
such  as  I  require  are  made  for  children.  Cor- 
nelius Nepos,  Julius  Caesar,  Cicero,  and  so 
forth,  wrote  for  men,  for  republicans,  hence 
for  statesmen,  and  for  men  who  lived  two 
thousand  years  ago.  Cornelius,  more  espe- 
cially, wrote  for  grown-up  Romans,  who  ruled 
over  Greece,  partly  studied  there,  and  there- 
fore were  more  or  less  acquainted  with  Greek 
language,  literature,  and  manners.  He  wanted 
to  be  helpful  to  them  by  a  terse  and  succinct 
account  of  the  deeds  of  great  Greek  generals 
and  their  campaigns,  for  they  needed  mere 
hints  as  to  names,  places,  time,  and  so  forth. 
It  did  not  harm  them  when  he  mentioned 
vices  of  every  kind,  even  the  most  unnatural, 
without  any  sense  of  shame.  According  to 
their  code  of  morals,  their  religion,  it  was 
permissible,  or  at  least  excusable,  if  Alcibiades 
honorably  distinguished  himself  among  the 
Persians  and  Thracians  as  a  debauchee  and 
winebibber. 

But  what  impression  will  all  that  produce 
on  an  innocent,  Christian  child?  What  is 
such  a  little  creature  to  do  with  the  master- 
piece of  military  tactics  which  Caesar,  under 


264       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

special  circumstances,  invented  anew  or  modi- 
fied, and  which  he  described,  indeed,  in  a 
masterly  way,  but  one  which  is  almost  too 
much  abbreviated  even  for  an  advanced  war- 
rior? What  is  he  to  do  with  the  legal  and 
political  writings  of  Cicero?  Or  with  his 
Graeco-Roman  philosophical  works,  by  which 
he  wanted  to  win  the  best  men  of  Rome  over 
to  the  most  profound  investigations  of  Greece? 
Of  what  good  to  a  boy  of  ours  are  Cicero's 
letters  to  his  "intimate"  friends,  since  Cicero 
all  the  time  takes  for  granted  much  they  very 
well  knew,  but  which  our  boys  neither  guess 
at,  nor  want  to  guess  at,  and  of  which  nine- 
tenths  of  their  teachers  know  precious  little? 
If  a  boy  has  painfully  plowed  his  way  through 
Cornelius,  even  as  I  did,  what  has  he  gained 
from  it?  I  know  but  few  useful  results  from 
it,  and  a  great  mass  of  harmful  ones. 

On  the  other  hand,  how  rich  the  gain  is  for 
the  intellect,  imagination,  wit,  and  heart  if 
the  boy  has  attentively  read  and  finished  a 
German  or  French  book  appropriately  writ- 
ten for  German  or  French  children!  I  am 
sure  I  shall  be  wasting  time  and  labor  and 
undervaluing  my  readers'  intelligence  if  I  say 
anything  more  about  this.     I  will  only  add 


Learning  the  Languages  265 

that  I  consider  it  a  sin  against  our  intelligence 
and  that  of  our  children,  to  begin  with  the 
philosophy  of  language,  that  is,  with  gram- 
mar, and  to  treat  only  incidentally,  or  allow 
to  follow  later,  the  language  treasure,  that  is, 
the  very  subject  which  is  to  be  judged  and 
regulated.  I  proceeded  in  the  reverse  order, 
and  that  did  my  son  a  great  deal  of  good. 

But,  it  will  be  remarked,  ''The  reading  of 
French  is  so  very  difficult,  whereas  the  read- 
ing of  Latin  is  easy."  That  is  true — a  proof 
that  objections  may  be  raised  against  anything. 
But  it  did  not  bother  me,  when  I  wanted  to 
instruct  Karl,  and  Karl  wanted  to  be  in- 
structed. I  at  first  gave  him  such  words  as 
were  pronounced  as  with  us,  then  such  as  dif- 
fered a  little,  and  so  forth. 

At  the  same  time  I  united  earnest  with  jest. 
Earnest — for  I  taught  him  at  once  the  correct 
pronunciation  of  the  French  letters,  and 
showed  him  a  mass  of  cases  where  it  actually 
was  used.  Jest — because  even  in  the  case  of 
the  German  words  which  are  written  irregu- 
larly, I  had  frequently  said,  "This  shows  how 
silly  we  still  are,  for,  instead  of  writing  *tuhn,' 
we  write  'thun,'  and  so  forth.  The  French 
are  even  sillier  in  writing,  or,  rather,  in  the 


266       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

pronunciation  of  what  they  have  written." 
So  he  looked  upon  it  as  being  funny,  and  it 
even  gave  him  pleasure  to  busy  himself  with 
the  senseless  stuff,  because  he  treated  it,  now 
as  a  trick,  now  as  a  puzzle,  now  as  a  maze,  in 
dealing  with  which  he  had  to  bring  light  and 
clearness.  I  aver  as  an  honest  man  that  in 
this  way  he  learned  French  with  incredible 
rapidity.  What  differed  most  from  the  norm 
was  mentioned  to  him  with  the  greatest  ridi- 
cule, and,  upon  occasion,  in  a  farcical  man- 
ner; or  he  was  reminded  of  it  at  table  or  dur- 
ing a  walk,  by  saying,  for  example,  "Oh,  this 
is  almost  as  sensible  as  the  French  pronun- 
ciation of  'monsieur'!" 

I  should  like  to  mention  here  in  general 
that  our  children  would  learn  a  great  deal 
more  if  we  looked  less  imposing  during  our 
lectures.  I  am  opposed  to  the  method  of 
teaching  wholly  through  play,  yet  I  consider 
it  necessary  to  combine  jest  with  earnestness. 
My  beloved  and  honored  teacher,  Gedike,  al- 
ways did  so. 

Karl  frequently  learned  difficult  things  eas- 
ily, because  I  offered  them  to  him  in  a  merry 
and  a  light  way,  while  slight  difficulties  fright- 


Learning  the  Languages  267 

ened  him  if  I  or  some  one  else  assumed  an 
official  mien,  or  presented  the  subject  in  a 
cold,  stiff,  anxious,  indistinct,  or  confused 
manner. 

What  is  bad,  I  might  say  what  is  abomina- 
ble, is  that  much  is  taught  which  the  teacher 
himself  does  not  master.  Just  as  most  Ger- 
man actors  do  not  know  their  parts  well,  hence 
anxiously  look  and  listen  to  the  prompter  and 
speak  in  long-drawn-out  and  incorrect  pas- 
sages, not  thinking  of  the  correct  expression, 
proper  action,  and  easy  playing,  and  thus  an- 
noying and  tiring  out  the  spectator;  so  do  the 
teachers  fail  in  their  purpose  who  do  not  mas- 
ter the  subject  of  instruction,  do  not  know  it 
from  all  sides,  do  not  present  it  lightly  to  the 
child.  Instead  of  joy  the  hearer  will  experi- 
ence a  sense  of  burden,  instead  of  active  par- 
ticipation, ennui  and  disgust.  He  who  teaches 
children,  stopping  to  think  about  his  subject, 
or  sticking  to  what  has  just  been  read,  or  fre- 
quently looking  into  the  text-book,  will  not 
be  able  to  impart  much  to  them.  I  have  ex- 
perienced this  in  my  own  case  and  in  the  case 
of  others,  at  first  as  a  pupil,  and  later  as  a 
teacher,  but  fortunately  I  have  had  also  the 


268       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

opposite  before  my  eyes.  For  this  reason  I 
taught  my  son  only  what  I  could  in  the  high- 
est degree  call  my  own  mental  property. 

If  I  had  wanted  to  hurry,  I  should  have 
given  Karl  an  hour's  instruction  each  day,  in- 
stead of  fifteen  minutes,  or  should  have  had 
recourse  to  the  conversational  method.  But 
I  was  afraid  of  prematurity  and  did  only 
what  I  had  to,  at  Louise's  request.  In  a  few 
months  I  joyfully  observed  that  the  child  was 
gaining  and  wanted  to  study  more;  so  I  gave 
him  half  an  hour,  after  a  while  a  little  more, 
and  toward  the  end  of  the  year  an  hour  each 
day.  Karl  got  only  pleasant  things  for  his 
reading.  He  was  given,  for  example,  "Robin- 
son Crusoe,"  which  he  knew  already  from  the 
German,  and  which  he  later  translated  from 
nearly  all  the  languages.  In  a  year  he  was 
so  far  advanced  that  he  could  with  pleasure 
read  an  easy  French  book  without  my  aid.  I 
then  began  speaking  French  with  him,  and 
passed  on  to  the  study  of  Italian.  This  was 
so  easy  for  him  that  he  made  as  much  progress 
in  it  in  six  months  as  he  had  made  in  French 
in  a  year.  The  longest  study  period  now 
lasted  an  hour  and  a  half. 

Karl  had  learned  to  know  and  to  overcome 


Learning  the  Languages  269 

any  peculiar  difficulties  which  had  occurred 
in  either  language.  So  I  hoped  that  he  would 
no  longer  be  afraid  of  Latin.  I  should  have 
hoped  not  in  vain,  but  a  large  number  of 
grown  persons  and  of  his  young  friends,  espe- 
cially two  pupils  at  my  house,  had  frequently 
spoken  to  him  of  Latin  as  something  extremely 
disagreeable,  difficult,  and  useless,  and  so  he 
had  an  anxiety  and  prejudice  against  it. 

I  was  not  able  to  remove  these,  since,  from 
what  I  said  above,  I  could  not  promise  him 
either  ease  or  great  pleasure.  Nor  did  I  see 
clearly  how  I  could  make  its  usefulness  mani- 
fest to  him  as  in  the  case  of  the  modern  lan- 
guages. To  have  assured  him  that  he  could 
become  a  learned  man  only  through  the 
knowledge  of  Latin  would  have  been  of  no 
avail,  for  he  could  have  answered  rightfully 
that  he  did  not  care  to  become  a  learned  man, 
but  rather  a  well-rounded,  cultured  man, 
which  he  certainly  might  do  without  Latin. 
He  had  several  examples  of  this  kind  before 
his  eyes,  and  uncountable  examples  of  learned 
men  without  true  culture  of  mind  or  heart. 
There  was,  therefore,  nothing  left  for  me  to 
do  but  to  assure  him,  upon  good  faith  and 
through  my  nearest  friends,  that  the  study  of 


270       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

Latin  was  important  and  necessary.  I  also 
frequently  spoke  in  his  presence  of  the  beau- 
ties of  the  iEneid  and  of  separate  works  of 
Cicero.  For  what  honest  man,  who  is  not 
a  self-satisfied  scholar,  can  recommend  to  his 
son  the  works  of  Ovid,  Terence,  Suetonius, 
Horace,  and  so  many  other  Latin  and  Greek 
classics,  without  trembling  for  his  morality? 
Only  a  learned  "aes  triplex  circa  pectus"  can 
assuage  conscience,  if  the  boy  should  become 
a  drunkard,  a  debauchee,  or  given  to  unnatural 
vices,  for  have  not  the  most  shameful  incite- 
ments toward  it,  and  the  most  violent  stimuli 
for  his  passions,  been  given  into  his  hands  as 
something  extremely  praiseworthy? 

Accordingly,  when  Karl  had  command  of 
his  Latin,  I  did  something  quite  unusual.  I 
used  to  speak  of  some  author,  for  example 
Horace,  with  high  respect  as  a  poet,  man  of 
the  world,  and  philosopher,  and  with  the  ut- 
most contempt  as  a  drunkard  and  debauchee. 
I  never  said  in  such  a  case  that  he  drank,  but 
that  he  was  a  drunkard,  a  sot.  For  expres- 
sions such  as  "to  appropriate"  for  "to  steal," 
"not  to  tell  the  truth"  for  "to  lie,"  "not  indus- 
trious" for  "lazy,"  do  an  incredible  amount 
of  harm  in  common  life,  and  much  more  in 


Learning  the  Languages  2J1 

education.  Vice  is  most  dangerous  in  an  at- 
tractive garment.  My  judgments  of  the  au- 
thors had  a  good  effect  on  Karl,  though  they 
might  have  been  harmful  in  the  case  of  hun- 
dreds of  other  boys.  He  had  faith  in  me  and 
judged  like  me,  for  he  respected  and  loved  me 
devotedly.  Besides,  he  had  been  accustomed 
not  to  want  to  read  a  thing  if  I  said,  "It  is  not 
good  for  you  I"  but  especially  if  my  face  indi- 
cated contempt  or  disgust.  Children  brought 
up  in  the  ordinary  way  strive  so  much  the 
more  to  read  what  is  prohibited,  or  to  talk 
about  it  with  others.  Unfortunately  such  pas- 
sages are,  as  a  rule,  the  only  ones  which  are 
appropriated  by  them  to  the  full  extent. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  all  I  have  said  above,  I 
could  not  overcome  my  misgivings,  and  so  I 
chose  an  edition  of  Horace  which  at  that  time 
was  expurgated  as  regards  the  vilest  matter, 
and  I  liked  it  well.  Of  course,  there  were  not 
wanting  those  who  asserted  that  in  that  way 
he  could  not  become  a  great  Latin  scholar, 
and  that  those  passages  did  less  harm  than 
usually  supposed,  and  so  forth.  I  listened  to 
their  balderdash  and  pitied  their  pupils,  since 
their  innocent  minds  could  not  help  being 
ruined  by  those  shameless  atrocities. 


272        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

I  mentioned  above  why  I  could  not  recom- 
mend Caesar  to  Karl.  Livy  is  for  a  child  too 
earnest,  too  dry.  Especially  his  introduction 
is  much  too  difficult.  I  should  have  chosen 
the  fables  of  Phaedrus  least  of  all,  because  I 
myself  had  to  suffer  the  torture  of  beginning 
with  them. 

A  happy  circumstance  helped  me  out  of  my 
perplexity  as  to  how  to  lead  Karl  over  to 
Latin.  I  was  frequently  at  Leipsic  with  Karl, 
attending  the  theater,  the  concert,  in  short, 
everything  worth  seeing.  Once  they  played 
the  "Stabat  Mater,"  and  at  the  entrance  they 
gave  me  the  text  for  it.  Karl  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  having  the  contents  of  this  kind  read 
or  translated  to  him.  During  the  symphony 
we  were  sitting  in  a  side-room,  and  I  said  to 
him,  "Do  translate  this!"  He  took  it,  then 
looked  for  a  moment  perplexedly  at  it,  and 
said,  "This  is  neither  French  nor  Italian.  It 
must  be  Latin."  I  replied,  laughing,  "Let  it 
be  what  it  may,  if  only  you  can  translate  it. 
Try  at  least!"  He  tried,  and  I  helped  him, 
especially  by  pronouncing  the  harsh  Latin 
sounds  somewhat  softer,  almost  like  Italian, 
for  example,  "stava't,"  "mader,"  "dolorosa," 
etc.    Coming  to  words  like  "juxta,"  I  helped 


Learning  the  Languages  273 

him  out  by  saying,  "You  do  not  know  this,  it 
means  so  and  so."  "Crucem"  I  pronounced 
as  in  Italian;  the  c  in  "lacrimosa"  almost  lilce 
g,  and  so  forth.  In  fine,  we  translated  it  with 
fair  rapidity  and  merrily  to  the  very  end. 
He  said,  with  joy,  "If  that  is  all  there  is  to  it, 
I  should  like  to  learn  Latin!"  "Of  course, 
that  is  all,  and,  in  case  of  need,  I  can  help 
you  out."  The  very  next  day  I  hunted  up 
the  Latin  "Robinson"  and  other  easy  readers 
which  are  appropriate  for  children. 

I  began  with  these,  caring  precious  little 
whether  the  language  was  Ciceronian  or  not^ 
It  took  nine  months  before  Karl  had  accom- 
plished as  much  in  Latin  as  he  had  in  Italian 
in  six  months,  although  the  two  daughter  lan- 
guages, which  he  had  already  acquired,  had 

*  Of  course,  one  should  not  choose  the  "Epistolae  Ob- 
scurorum  Virorum"  or  give  children  similar  books.  Most 
important  of  all  is  it  to  bear  in  mind  that  a  child  may  best 
be  led  to  a  complete  comprehension  of  the  Latin  classics 
by  beginning  with  a  good  translation  of  German  juvenile 
books,  and  it  will  be  accomplished  much  more  rapidly,  be- 
cause the  child  likes  to  read  them  and  out  of  curiosity  will 
frequently  read  ahead  of  the  daily  task.  At  the  same  time 
his  intellect  is  kept  immeasurably  more  active;  his  knowl- 
edge is  greatly  increased  and  rectified;  and,  what  is  most 
important,  his  heart  remains  pure  and  may  even  be  ennobled. 
Then  one  may  pass  over  to  the  ^neid,  to  some  of  the  more 
attractive  writings  of  Cicero,  and  to  a  few  other,  morally 
pure  or,  at  least,  purified  classics,  and  the  child  will  learn 
his  Latin  fast  enough. 


274        ^^^  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

prepared  the  way  to  a  very  considerable  ex- 
tent. A  number  of  deviations  from  the  Ger- 
man were  already  known  to  him,  and  they 
seemed  natural  to  him.  Other  deviations  he 
did  not  mind,  because  he  had  been  brought 
by  degrees  to  these,  for  a  German  child,  un- 
natural forms. 

At  the  end  of  the  time  mentioned  I  lived 
with  him  for  six  weeks  at  my  quarters  in 
Halle,  staying  there  for  several  days  each 
week,  and  I  employed  the  services  of  an  ex- 
pert teacher  of  languages  for  the  pronuncia- 
tion of  English.  During  the  hour  Karl  stud- 
ied together  with  me.  After  it  we  repeated 
the  old  and  prepared  the  new  lesson  together. 
English  now  became  so  easy  to  him  that  he 
understood  as  much  of  it  in  three  months  as 
of  the  others  in  six  or  nine  month 

How  difficult,  however,  the  Greek  language 
is  for  a  German  child,  I  found  in  my  own 
case,  in  the  case  of  numberless  friends,  and 
especially  in  that  of  Karl.  He  wanted  to  learn 
it;  I  had  told  him  so  much  about  Homer, 
Xenophon,  Plutarch,  and  most  of  all  about 
a  mass  of  lovely  flowers  from  the  Greek  world 
which  are  collected  in  our  best  readers,  that 
he  was  anxious  to  acquire  them.     Yet,   al- 


Learning  the  Languages  275 

though  Greek  is  an  elder  sister  of  German, 
the  two  sisters  have,  through  time  and  circum- 
stances, developed  such  different  idioms  that 
it  is  very  difficult  for  a  German  child  to  learn 
Greek.  "Graeca  sunt,  nee  leguntur"  has  be- 
come especially  clear  to  me  since  my  last  ex- 
perience. 

Even  before  beginning  Greek  vs^ith  Karl,  I 
had  given  him,  at  his  urgent  request,  two  or 
three  months'  instruction  in  it  in  secret — that 
is,  from  his  mother  and  other  friends — each 
lesson  lasting  fifteen  minutes,  and  he  had 
worked  hard  at  it.  I  then  somewhat  increased 
the  lessons,  to  please  him,  or  I  gave  him  an  ad- 
ditional lesson  of  fifteen  minutes,  say,  in  the 
evening,  when  he  asked  for  it  in  particular. 
And  yet,  after  three  months,  he  was  discour- 
aged and  thought  he  would  never  learn  it,  and 
it  took  him  nine  months  to  be  as  far  in  Greek 
as  he  had  been  in  the  other  languages  in  a 
shorter  time.  But,  as  soon  as  these  first  diffi- 
culties were  overcome,  he  made  very  good 
progress. 

I  think  I  can  hear  two  objections.  First, 
people  will  say,  "How  many  hours  did  you 
use,  to  keep  all  the  languages  mentioned  go- 
ing?   The  child  must  have  been  sitting  all 


276       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

day  at  the  desk,  hence  he  must  have  become 
stupefied!"  Experience  has  shown  the  re- 
verse, and,  with  my  method  of  instruction, 
must  prove  it  absolutely.  But  these  people 
are  absolutely  right,  if  they  have  in  mind  that 
which  is  taking  place  at  present.  If  I  had 
begun  with  Latin  or  Greek,  or  if  I  had  not 
carefully  prepared  the  child's  intellect;  if  I 
had  neglected  to  teach  Karl  to  speak  excellent 
German  in  the  first  five  years  of  his  life;  if  I 
had  not  roused  his  love  for  the  foreign  lan- 
guages in  many  ways,  and  had  not  laid  their 
great  usefulness  clearly  before  his  eyes;  if  I 
had  not  gotten  him  used  to  work  rapidly, 
while  sparing  him  from  those  abominable 
"versions"  which  take  away  hours  at  a  time 
and  accustom  a  boy  to  dilly-dallying;  the  in- 
struction in  four  or  five  languages  all  at  once 
would  have  been  a  sheer  impossibility,  if  for 
nothing  else  than  lack  of  time. 

As  it  was,  everything  went  excellently.  The 
moment  Karl  had  brushed  aside  the  chief  dif- 
ficulties, I  gave  him  only  fifteen  minutes  a  day 
in  which,  for  example,  to  continue  his  French. 
During  that  period  he  had  to  read  for  himself 
a  considerable  passage,  looking  up  everything 
he  did  not  know  in  the  dictionary  and  gram- 


Learning  the  Languages  277 

mar,  in  order  to  give  me  an  exhaustive  account 
of  it  in  German.  At  the  end  of  his  study  pe- 
riod I  would  quiz  him  here  and  there.  I 
generally  knew  where  to  look  for  the  diffi- 
culties— and  then  I  had  him  recite  to  me,  now 
literally,  now  in  choice  German.  If  two  such 
passages  went  off  well,  I  considered  his  work 
done  well  in  every  way.  It  is  incredible  what 
rapidity,  besides  precision,  a  boy  may  gain 
by  this  way  of  working.  He  is  kept  mentally 
busy,  and  so  advances  with  all  due  speed.  The 
mechanical  writing  retards  him,  causes  him 
ennui,  and  tires  him  even  of  the  most  attrac- 
tive passage.  Try  both  methods  for  any  length 
of  time, — but  do  it  honestly — and  then  pass 
judgment  I 

Besides,  while  out  walking,  traveling,  etc., 
we  at  first  conversed  frequently  in  French, 
later  in  Italian,  and  finally  also  in  Latin  or 
English.  One  may  see  that  a  boy,  if  he  is 
willing,  may  in  this  manner  accomplish  very 
much  by  employing  at  most  three  hours  each 
day.  Karl  did  not  receive  more  instruction 
than  that  in  Lochau,  that  is,  up  to  his  tenth 
year.  Indeed,  if  I  take  into  consideration  the 
Sundays,  the  frequent  travels,  etc.,  he  did  not 
have  more  than  two  hours  each  day  of  actual 


278       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

instruction,  before  we  went  to  Goettingen. 
But  we  frequently  read  together,  or  he  by 
himself,  in  the  long  winter  evenings,  or  in  the 
afternoon  of  a  rainy  day,  now  a  German  book 
for  children,  now  some  select  passages  from 
foreign  languages,  which  he  (more  rarely  I) 
had  found  and  wanted  to  read,  or  we  recited 
some  especially  fine  poems  to  one  another. 

Second  objection :  "Your  son  must  have  con- 
fused the  various  languages."  Since  the  great 
schoolman,  noble  Funk  of  Magdeburg,  ex- 
pressed the  same  fear,  I  am  not  surprised 
when  others  do  so.  But  Funk,  like  many 
others,  became  convinced  of  the  contrary, 
hence  I  do  not  need  to  prove  that  it  is  pos- 
sible or  has  been  accomplished,  but  need  only 
to  tell  how  it  was  done.  This,  of  course,  goes 
once  more  back  to  Karl's  earliest  years.  Karl 
had  to  do  everything  correctly,  had  especially 
to  speak  good  German,  was  not  allowed,  ex- 
cept in  actual  necessity,  to  introduce  foreign 
words,  and  so  forth.  I  demanded  the  same 
of  him  in  his  translations.  I  admitted  noth- 
ing but  pure  German,  absolutely  nothing  else. 
Besides,  he  had  to  be  perfectly  at  home  in  a 
language  before  I  began  the  next.  That  is 
all  I  did,  and  even  envy  has  not  been  able  to 


Learning  the  Languages  279 

find  any  fault  with  his  translations,  while  our 
greatest  philologists  have  praised  him  highly, 
both  orally  and  in  writing. 

I  wish  once  more  to  decry  that  disastrous 
blunder  people  make  who  assert  that  without 
beginning  with  grammar,  without  that  sense- 
less analyzing  and  without  written  exercises, 
it  is  not  possible  to  learn  to  speak  and  write 
perfect  Latin.  I  had  so  much  facility  in  both, 
that  Gedike  was  perfectly  satisfied  with  me, 
and  yet  I  never  did  any  of  those  things.  But 
I  had  read  so  much  the  more  in  the  two  lan- 
guages and  made  their  contents  my  own.  If, 
however,  I  should  have  started  by  teaching 
my  son  to  speak  and  write  "elegant"  Latin, 
I  do  not  believe  I  could  have  attained  my 
purpose  without  crippling  his  intellect. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

Karl's  Education  in  the  Sciences 

It  seems  ridiculous  to  talk  of  this,  for  Karl 
could  not  receive  any  formal  instruction  in 
the  sciences  at  Lochau.  In  the  first  place, 
this  belongs  to  the  university,  and  in  the  sec- 
ond, a  preacher  in  the  country  lacks  the  neces- 
sary means  for  it.  I  had  the  required  in- 
formation, or  I  could  get  it  out  of  books,  but 
not  the  mass  of  newer  v^orks,  the  necessary 
etchings,  the  costly  instruments,  the  facility 
in  experimentation,  etc.  I  v^as,  therefore, 
glad  to  forego  it,  but  I  none  the  less  directed 
Karl's  attention  to  a  mass  of  scientific  facts, 
without  saying  to  him,  "This  belongs  to  nat- 
ural history,  this  to  chemistry,  this  to  physics, 
to  ancient,  or  to  modern  geography,  and  so 
forth." 

He  became  acquainted  with  natural  his- 
tory in  all  its  parts  the  moment  he  could  think. 
The  much  improved  edition  of  Raff  was  one 
of  his  playthings,  and  in  Halle,  Leipsic,  and 

280 


Education  in  the  Sciences  281 

Merseburg  he  never  failed  to  see  the  strange 
animals  or  anything  else  worth  seeing.  But 
most  of  all  I  used  our  travels  for  this  purpose. 
The  sea  with  its  inhabitants,  mines  and  shafts, 
smelters,  steam-engines,  air-pumps,  a  basalt 
mine,  crater-like  hollows  on  the  tops  of  moun- 
tains, everything  gave  me  an  opportunity  for 
instruction.  Even  at  home,  a  dewdrop,  my 
barometer,  the  thermometer,  the  noisy  draught 
in  firing  a  stove,  the  sweat  on  the  window- 
panes,  etc., — how  much  there  is  to  tell  a  child 
about  these  and  about  hundreds  of  similar 
phenomena,  if  one  has  studied  with  any  profit 
natural  history,  physics,  and  chemistry.     , 

I  began  my  instruction  in  geography  in  the 
following  manner:  I  took  Karl  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible to  all  the  villages  which  lay  within  the 
horizon  of  our  tower.  He  was  also  taken  often 
to  Halle,  Merseburg,  Leipsic,  etc.  In  clear 
weather  I  used  to  ascend  the  tower  with  him, 
taking  with  me  a  few  sheets  of  white  paper 
and  a  pencil.  At  first  we  drew  (Karl  did  it 
more  than  I)  the  approximate  contour  of  our 
village  in  the  middle  of  the  sheet,  on  an  ap- 
propriately small  scale,  so  that  the  rest  would 
fit  into  the  sheet.  Then  we  put  down  a  dot 
for  the  nearest  village,  Liebenau,  and  so  forth 


282        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

for  the  other  visible  villages  on  every  side. 
We  at  the  same  time  wrote  down  their  names. 
The  rivers  Saale  and  Elster,  the  forests,  mead- 
ows, and  fields  were  indicated  upon  it  in  red. 

When  this  was  done,  we  showed  it  to  his 
mother,  and  she  made  her  remarks  upon  it. 
Then  we  went  a  second  time  to  the  tower,  and 
made  a  good  drawing  of  the  map,  which,  for 
us  at  least,  was  sufficiently  correct.  Then  we 
compared  it  with  special  maps  of  the  Saale 
District,  and  corrected  it  in  the  light  of  the 
latter.  That  was  all  I  did  in  order  to  give 
Karl  a  correct  idea  of  geography,  and  to  rouse 
his  inclination  toward  it.  He  never  after- 
ward returned  from  a  journey  but  that  he  was 
able  to  give  and  indicate  upon  paper  the  ap- 
proximate distances  of  the  places.  When  he 
was  nine  years  old,  he  owned  a  collection  of 
maps  such  as  I  have  seldom  seen  in  the  pos- 
session of  wealthy  young  men.  We  bought  as 
many  of  them  as  we  could,  and  many  were 
given  to  him  as  presents. 

He  had,  besides,  the  maps  of  d'Anville,  and 
he  never  read  anything  from  ancient  history 
but  that  he  had  them  near  at  hand.  I  intro- 
duced him  to  history  during  our  walks  or 
upon  our  journeys,  by  stories^  and  employed 


Education  in  the  Sciences  283 

for  the  same  purpose  historical  paintings, 
etchings,  etc.  Mr.  K.  v.  S.  at  Merseburg 
taught  him  a  great  deal  of  astronomy,  by 
means  of  his  excellent  instruments.  I  had 
previously  done  all  that  could  be  done  with- 
out a  telescope.  He  was  really  quite  ad- 
vanced in  these  things  when  he  was  nine  years 
old,  but  he  would  have  been  greatly  surprised 
if  he  had  been  told  that  he  had  been  studying 
geography,  physics,  and  so  forth. 

I  had  carefully  avoided  the  use  of  such 
terms,  partly  in  order  not  to  frighten  him, 
partly  not  to  make  him  vain.  He  learned 
them  and  all  other  technical  terms  quickly 
enough,  after  he  mastered  that  which  they 
meant.  It  was  with  these  as  with  plural, 
nominative,  subjunctive,  etc.  I  did  as  though 
he  was  not  to  learn  them,  but  as  soon  as  the 
things  were  his,  the  names  followed  easily. 


CHAPTER   XXII 

The  Cultivation  of  Taste 

I  TOLERATED  as  far  as  possible  nothing  in  my 
house,  yard,  garden,  etc.,  that  was  not  taste- 
ful, especially  nothing  that  did  not  harmo- 
nize with  its  surroundings.  If  anything  was 
not  harmonious,  I  was  uneasy  about  it  until 
it  was  removed.  All  my  rooms  were  papered 
with  wall  paper  of  one  color,  the  fields  being 
surrounded  by  pleasing  borders.  In  every 
room  there  was  but  little  furniture,  but  such 
as  there  was  was  carefully  selected.  On  all 
the  walls  hung  paintings  or  etchings,  but  none 
of  these  was  tastelessly  glaring  in  colors,  or 
represented  an  unpleasant  subject.  Our  yard 
and  garden  were  in  bloom  from  earliest 
spring  to  very  late  in  the  fall.  Snowbells  and 
crocuses  started  the  procession,  and  winter 
asters  were  only  crushed  by  the  snow  or  a  se- 
vere frost.  We  ourselves  were  always  dressed 
cleanly  but  simply. 

I  never  bought  anything  that  was  too  mag- 
nificent for  my  circumstances,  nor  any  pic- 

284 


The  Cultivation  of  Taste  285 

tures  for  Karl  unless  they  were  true  and  beau- 
tiful. If  he  was  presented  with  a  picture 
which  did  not  come  up  to  the  mark,  we  in- 
spected it  jestingly  and  made  fun  of  what  was 
not  beautiful,  especially  of  anything  with 
glaring  colors.  On  the  other  hand,  we  fre- 
quently admired  the  color  schemes  of  flowers 
and  birds.  But  if  these  were  too  brightly 
colored,  we  did  not  fail  to  remark  upon  it. 
Wherever  we  could  obtain  anything  beau- 
tiful, we  were  sure  to  do  so.  Leipsic,  Dessau, 
Woerlitz,  Potsdam,  Berlin,  Rostock,  Weimar, 
Dresden,  the  Saxon  Switzerland,  and  so  forth, 
furnished  me  opportunities  enough  to  widen 
and  correct  Karl's  conceptions  of  the  beau- 
tiful. Leipsic  and  its  fair!  How  much  these 
few  words  mean  I  But  Karl  had  known  the 
two  very  well  since  early  childhood.  He  had 
become  acquainted  with  the  beauties  of  Pots- 
dam and  Berlin  in  his  fifth  year,  and  of  Dres- 
den and  its  magnificent  surroundings  when  he 
was  only  six  years  old.  We  visited  the  picture 
gallery  there  for  days  and  weeks  in  succession, 
while  Mengs's  casts  and  the  antiques  were 
visited  as  often  as  possible,  and  the  Green 
Vault  twice.  We  never  beheld  men,  horses, 
dogs,  birds,  houses,  carriages,  furniture,  pic- 


286       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

tures,  etc.,  but  that  we  directed  each  other's 
attention  to  them  and  discussed  them  favor- 
ably or  unfavorably. 

Karl  learned  very  early  to  love  and  prop- 
erly to  judge  poetry.  We  began  w^ith  the  sim- 
plest poems  and  by  degrees  rose  to  the  most 
sublime.  The  versification,  rhyme,  language, 
contents,  gentle  hints  or  allusions  in  these 
formed  the  subject  of  our  common  judgment. 
The  most  beautiful  of  these  Karl  learned  by 
heart  very  rapidly,  if  v^e  recited  them  to  him 
a  few  times  on  our  walks  or  journeys. 

What  was  the  case  with  German,  soon  also 
happened  with  French,  and  I  aver  that  in  all 
the  languages  which  he  learned  he  soon  knew 
a  mass  of  excellent  poems  by  heart,  because 
he  read  them  several  times  for  their  beauty 
and  thus  retained  them  in  his  mind.  I  shall 
only  mention  Florian,  Metastasio,  Virgil, 
Horace,  and  Homer.  Many  a  time,  when  I 
was  particularly  busy,  he  tortured  me  by  read- 
ing or  reciting  to  me  long  passages  from  the 
most  beautiful  poems.  But  I  listened  pa- 
tiently, in  order  not  to  spoil  his  pleasure. 
Heyne  would  not  have  written  to  Wieland  the 
way  he  did,  if  Karl  had  not  even  then  tried 
to  penetrate  the  spirit  of  the  ancients. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

Karl  Goes  to  College 

Karl  was  now  seven  and  a  half  years  old,  and 
his  attainments  appeared  very  striking  to  men 
of  knowledge.  One  man  told  another  about 
it.  People  wanted  to  examine  him,  and  I  al- 
lowed this  to  be  done.  The  above-mentioned 
K.  v.  S.  in  Merseburg  was  among  these,  and 
he  soon  became  Karl's  fatherly  friend.  He 
did  everything  he  could,  with  touching  zeal, 
to  instruct  Karl,  for  that  meant  giving  him 
pleasure.  He  did  not  value  even  the  rarest 
wines  of  his  cellar  too  highly,  to  let  Karl 
taste  of  them,  in  order  that  he  might  get  an 
idea  of  what  they  were  like.  His  superb  li- 
brary, etchings,  instruments, — all  these  Karl 
could  use  as  his  own.  Every  time  we  two  had. 
to  pass  the  night  with  him,  on  account  of 
astronomical  observations,  he  invited  highly 
cultured  men  to  his  house.  Thus  several 
schoolmen  became  acquainted  with  Karl. 
One  of  these,  Mr.  T.  L.,  asked  permission 

287 


288       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

to  examine  him  before  his  students,  in  order 
to  stimulate  the  latter.  I  hesitated  for  a  long 
time,  but  finally  I  consented  under  the  fol- 
lowing conditions:  (i)  Karl  was  to  know 
nothing  in  advance  of  the  examination;  hence 
(2)  L.  was  to  come  for  me  the  following  day, 
under  the  pretext  that  I  should  pass  judg- 
ment on  his  pupils,  and  Karl  was  then  to  come 
with  me;  (3)  the  pupils  were  not  to  express 
their  approbation;  (4)  we  would  sit  down  on 
a  back  bench  and  listen.  Then  a  book  might 
be  handed  to  us,  and  so  forth.  All  that  was 
promised,  and  kept  to  the  letter. 

A  few  weeks  later  there  appeared  in  the 
Hamburger  Korrespondent  the  following  an- 
nouncement. It  was  decisive  for  my  son's 
whole  later  career,  and  so  it  is  of  great  im- 
portance for  every  thinking  man.  The  writer 
has  never  become  known,  but  I  believe  that 
the  noble  man  will  surely  be  rewarded  in  a 
better  world  for  his  beautiful  purpose. 

Merseburg,  May  10,  1808. 

A  few  days  ago  there  happened  here  something  very 
remarkable  for  pedagogy.  The  excellent  teacher  of  our 
place,  Mr.  Tertius  Landvogt,  brought  to  the  schoolroom, 
for  the  stimulation  of  his  pupils,  a  small  child  of  seven 
years  and  ten  months.    The  little  fellow  listened  atten- 


Karl  Goes  to  College  289 

tively  to  the  Greek  lesson  which  was  being  recited;  then 
Mr.  T.  L.,  who  had  met  him  the  day  before  at  the 
house  of  the  very  humane  and  cultured  Kammerherr, 
Mr.  von  Seckendorf,  and  had  examined  his  powers  in 
the  presence  of  several  scholarly  men,  asked  him  to  con- 
tinue the  reading.  To  the  astonishment  of  all  the  pu- 
pils he  read  and  translated  a  perfectly  strange  passage 
from  Plutarch,  and  answered  several  analytical  questions 
to  entire  satisfaction. 

Now  he  was  given  Julius  Caesar,  and  he  translated 
from  the  passage  where  the  pupils  had  stopped.  He  was 
also  tested  in  analysis  on  the  passage  read  and  answered 
the  questions  very  well.  Then  he  translated  from  an  un- 
known Italian  book,  which  Mr.  T.  L.  had  brought,  and 
conversed  with  his  father  in  this  language.  Since  there 
was  no  French  at  hand,  Mr.  T.  L.  spoke  French  with 
him,  and  he  answered  as  fast  is  if  it  were  German.  Then 
he  noticed  on  the  wall  a  map  of  ancient  Greece,  and  he 
asked  permission  to  be  allowed  to  look  at  it.  Then  he 
mentioned  the  chief  cities  and  countries  of  Greece,  and 
told  about  them  and  about  several  of  their  great  men. 
When  Sinope  was  mentioned,  he  said  at  once,  "That  is 
not  here.  We  must  look  for  it  over  there,  on  Pontus 
Euxinus,"  pointing  to  another  map  on  another  wall.  The 
pupils  carried  the  child  there,  and  he  showed  them  at 
once  Sinope  and  told  about  Diogenes.  He  mentioned 
still  more  cities  and  countries,  and  at  the  same  time 
gave  their  modern  names.  Finally  he  calculated  a  few 
problems  in  the  rule  of  three  without  the  use  of  paper. 

The  main  thing  with  all  this  is  the  vigorous  health 
and  vivacity,  the  tender,  childlike  manner  and  modesty 
of  the  boy,  who  does  not  seem  to  know  how  much  he  is 
the  object  of  common  admiration. 

His  father  is  Preacher  Dr.  Karl  Witte,  of  Lochau, 


290       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

well  known  in  educational  circles.  Unfortunately  Dr. 
Witte  does  not  expatiate  on  his  method  of  instruction, 
by  which  this  prodigy,  who  widely  differs  from  those  of 
Heineke  and  Baratier,  who  were  spoilt,  partly  in  body 
and  partly  in  mind,  has  been  brought  up  and  educated  in 
such  an  indescribably  fortunate  manner. 

This  news  soon  spread  in  all  newspapers. 
Everybody  read  it,  everybody  asked,  "Is  it 
true?  Can  it  be  true?"  Many  doubters  came 
to  see  me,  others  invited  me  to  their  houses. 
They  all  examined  Karl  suspiciously.  But 
everybody  left  us  with  the  conviction  that  the 
boy  could  do  even  more  than  the  newspapers 
had  told  about  him.  Only  jealous  people  near 
by  and  far  away  passed  judgments,  without 
even  wishing  to  see  him,  to  the  effect  that  it 
was  not  true,  because  it  could  not  be  true. 
Such  people  usually  wait  until  they  find  out 
which  way  the  wind  is  blowing.  In  this  way 
they  are  always  swimming  on  top,  and  they 
have  the  advantage  that  no  one  can  deny  what 
they  finally  admit.  God  save  us  from  such 
narrow-minded  educators!  They  would  like 
to  suppress  what  is  unusual,  and  would 
furnish  us  clever  rather  than  noble-minded 
pupils.  But  men  who  do  not  merely  skim 
off  from   the   top   of  what  is   furnished   to 


Karl  Goes  to  College  291 

them,  but  enter  into  matters  with  their  own 
minds,  acted  quite  differently.  They  not  in- 
frequently wrote  to  me  and  asked  to  have  the 
child  shown  to  them,  and  I  never  refused  such 
a  request. 

Some  of  the  best  men  of  the  city  and  the 
university  of  Leipsic  urged  me  to  have  my 
son  examined  for  the  university  by  the  Rector 
of  the  Thomas  School,  Professor  Rost.  As  I 
did  not  know  the  man,  I  was  afraid  that  he 
would  consider  this  step  a  bit  of  presumption, 
and  so  forth.  So  I  flatly  refused,  saying  that 
a  large  number  of  professors  had  already  ex- 
amined my  son.  Finally  I  yielded.  Professor 
Rost  unites  great  learning  with  much  sound 
sense  and  kindness  of  heart.  He  introduced 
my  son  into  the  arcana  of  the  languages  and 
sciences,  while  he  thought  that  he  was  merely 
having  a  pleasant  conversation.  Here  is  his 
testimony: 

This  day  they  brought  before  me  the  nine-year-old 
boy,  J.  H.  F.  Karl  Witte,  from  Lochau,  in  order  that 
I  might  examine  him  and  pass  on  his  intellect  and  in- 
formation. I  put  before  him  by  no  means  easy  passages 
from  the  Iliad,  the  /Eneid,  Guarini's  "Pastor  Fido," 
and  a  French  work,  from  which  he  translated  so  well 
that  he  completely  justified  the  continuous  assurances  of 
men  who  are  capable  of  passing  judgment,  as  well  as  the 


292       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

common  reputation  of  his  skill.  For  in  the  translation 
of  the  passages  chosen  by  me  at  random,  he  not  onlj' 
showed  a  great  skill  in  the  verbal  knowledge  of  the  vari- 
ous languages,  but  he  also  evinced  a  deep  insight  into  the 
science  of  antiquity,  a  maturity  of  judgment,  a  self-pos- 
session, and  a  superior  power  of  all  the  other  mental  fac- 
ulties, such  as  I  have  never  before  seen  in  so  youthful 
a  being.  I,  therefore,  am  firmly  convinced  that  the  su- 
perior aptitudes  of  the  boy  and  the  most  excellent  edu- 
cational method  of  his  father,  who  has  trained  his  son 
all  by  himself,  deserve  the  attention  of  scholars,  who 
should  carefully  investigate  and  weigh  these  matters.  I 
am  convinced  that  it  is  very  necessary,  for  the  good  of 
the  sciences  in  general,  and  for  the  advancement  of  peda- 
gogy in  particular,  to  give  this  boy  of  extraordinary  mind, 
who  is  born  for  everything  great,  permission  to  attend 
all  the  lectures  of  the  professors,  for  which  he  is  un- 
questionably prepared;  and  that  no  hindrance  through 
prejudice  should  be  placed  in  his  way,  lest  the  hope  of 
everything  good  for  which  God  seems  to  have  prepared 
him,  should  be  crushed. 

Mag.  F.  W.  E.  Rost, 
Professor  of  Philosophy  and  Rector  of  the  Thomas 
School. 

Leipsic,  December  12,  1809. 


Professor  Rost's  statement  was  sent  to  the 
University  of  Leipsic,  where  consent  was 
given  for  his  admission  as  a  regular  student. 
This  took  place  on  January  18,  18 10,  through 
the  then  Rector  of  the  university,  Mr.  Kuehn. 
His  excellent  speech  to  Karl  and  me  touched 


Karl  Goes  to  College  293 

us  both  very  much.  I  was  particularly  moved 
when  the  child  gave  a  handshake,  in  place  of 
the  usual  oath,  that  he  would  promptly  keep 
the  laws.  After  that  Karl  received  his  ma- 
triculation. Hereupon  the  University  of 
Leipsic  made  an  appeal  to  benevolent 
wealthy  men,  to  secure  my  stay  in  Leipsic  fof 
at  least  three  years,  so  that  my  son  should  be 
able  to  attend  the  lectures,  for  which  he  had 
been  found,  upon  a  strict  examination,  fully 
mature  and  capable.     Here  is  the  appeal: 

The  youthful,  nine-year-old  Karl  Witte,  son  of  Dr. 
Witte,  Pastor  at  Lochau,  represents  to  us  a  remarkable 
example  of  the  fact  that  by  a  proper  early  education  the 
mental  powers  of  a  child  may  be  trained  and  brought 
to  an  almost  incredible  degree  of  maturity,  and  his  mem- 
ory may  be  furnished  with  an  amount  and  variety  of  in- 
formation in  the  first  decade  of  his  life,  that  would  do 
honor  to  a  youth  of  eighteen.  This  remarkable  child  has 
been  translating,  not  at  all  mechanically,  but  with  in- 
sight, facility,  and  deep  sentiment,  both  the  prose  and  the 
poetical  writers,  in  French,  Italian,  English,  Latin  and 
Greek,  and  of  this  he  has  lately  given  astonishing  proofs 
in  the  presence  of  the  greatest  experts,  and  also  in  the 
presence  of  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Saxony,  as  well  as 
the  whole  court.  He  showed  a  remarkably  quick  and 
well-guided  comprehension,  as  well  as  an  uncommon  read- 
ing in  history,  the  antiquities,  ancient  and  modern  geog- 
raphy, and  the  best  poets.  All  this  he  owes  entirely  to 
his  father,  who  until  now  has  been  his  only  teacher,  and 


294       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

whose  happy  and  properly  employed  gift  of  instruction 
is  no  less  remarkable  than  the  early  education  of  his  son. 

What  withal  removes  the  very  shadow  of  a  suspicion 
that  all  this  is  the  work  of  an  injurious  and  destructive 
effort  of  the  child,  is  his  health  and  childlike  merriment, 
and  the  complete  absence  of  any  of  the  forwardness  and 
intolerable  arrogance  displayed  by  wrongly  educated 
youthful  prodigies.  His  father,  who,  in  conjunction  with 
his  excellent  wife,  has  brought  the  child  so  early  to  this 
degree  of  knowledge,  has  the  very  natural  and  just  de- 
sire of  further  educating  him  under  his  own  guidance  in 
a  manner  proportionate  to  his  already  acquired  informa- 
tion; and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  if  the  child  is 
further  educated  under  the  happy  method  and  surveil- 
lance of  his  father,  there  should  result  therefrom  some- 
thing unique  and  great,  and  without  injury  to  the  child's 
life  and  health. 

In  the  simple  village,  where  the  family  now  lives,  it  is, 
on  account  of  the  father's  meager  income,  impossible  to 
obtain  the  appropriate  instruction  in  those  branches  of 
knowledge  which  the  father  does  not  himself  master.  It 
is,  therefore,  the  father's  sincerest  wish  to  continue  his 
son  in  some  large  city  on  the  path  on  which  he  has  been 
started,  for  at  least  three  more  years  and  under  his  per- 
sonal supervision.  Nor  can  it  be  doubted  that  he,  the 
loving  father  of  his  only  son,  who  has  done  so  much  for 
his  child  in  four  years  without  the  least  injury  to  him, 
will  also  be  able  to  use  to  good  advantage  the  three 
years  to  come.  But  the  manner  in  which  this  is  to  be 
accomplished  can  naturally  not  be  determined  by  the 
views  and  prescriptions  of  those  who  have  no  concep- 
tion of  the  natural,  as  well  as  pure  and  thorough,  edu- 
cational method  of  Dr.  Witte. 

Dr.  Witte  needs  for  the  execution  of  his  plan  the 


Karl  Goes  to  College  295 

assured  sum  of  at  least  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a 
year  for  the  period  of  three  years.  If  these  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  could  be  guaranteed,  his  parents  would 
for  three  years  stay  in  Leipsic,  while  his  father's  parish 
would  meanwhile  be  administered  and  kept  for  him  by 
somebody  else,  or  he  would  be  promised  another,  more 
profitable  one  by  the  royal  Westphalian  Government.  He 
could  use  his  stay  in  Leipsic,  outside  of  instructing  his 
son,  partly  for  literary  labors,  partly  and  more  especially 
for  the  instruction  of  other  people's  children,  perhaps 
incidentally  in  order  to  instruct  future  educators  in  his 
method ;  hence  he  could  even  in  this  incidental  way  mul- 
tiply the  usefulness  of  his  stay  here. 

The  question  is  now  whether  our  fellow-citizens  will 
remain  indifferent  and  inactive  lookers-on  of  this  phe- 
nomenon, and  will  be  willing  to  bear  the  accusation  that 
they  have  knowingly  neglected  the  cultivation  of  such  a 
rare  plant. 

In  the  firm  conviction  that  such  a  thing  is  unthinkable 
in  the  case  of  the  noble  inhabitants  of  Leipsic,  we  here- 
with invite  those  whom  Providence  has  placed  in  a  posi- 
tion to  further  such  a  beautiful  work,  to  assure  by  sub- 
scription the  sum  of  at  least  two  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars for  three  years  to  young  Witte,  for  this  is  the  only 
condition  under  which  his  parents  can  properly  continue 
their  work  here  in  Leipsic.  Since  the  boy  is  now  able, 
of  course  accompanied  by  his  father,  to  attend  profitably 
several  academic  lectures,  the  university  has  to-day 
granted  the  young  Witte  the  right  of  academic  citizen- 
ship, for  which,  after  a  strict  examination,  he  was  found 
entirely  mature  and  capable. 

Karl  Gottlob  Kuehn, 
Rector  of  the  University. 
Leipsic,  January  18,  1810. 


296       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

Instead  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  the 
generous  people  of  Leipsic  soon  subscribed 
five  hundred,  besides  offering  me  free  quar- 
ters and  two  stipends,  not  counting  what  the 
King  was  going  to  do.  The  condition  was 
that  we  should  stay  in  Leipsic.  I  went  with 
Karl  to  Kassel,  in  order  to  obtain  there  the 
necessary  consent.  But  the  King  was  not  there. 
The  next  morning  I  called  on  Mr.  von  Leist. 
He  had  great  prejudices  against  me  and  my 
son,  but  soon  became  fond  of  him.  He  ex- 
amined him  for  three  hours,  and  marveled  at 
his  knowledge,  and  asked  me  about  my  meth- 
od of  instruction.  Above  all  he  decided  that 
the  boy  should  not  go  to  Leipsic,  but  should 
stay  in  the  country.  Then  he  invited  us  to 
dinner  for  the  next  day,  and  invited  the  min- 
isters and  councilors  of  state  then  present  in 
Kassel,  to  examine  Karl  a  few  hours  before. 
Both  the  Germans  and  the  French  were 
highly  satisfied,  and,  after  holding  council, 
decided  unanimously  that  the  King  should 
supply  me  with  what  Leipsic  had  promised, 
and  that  I  should  with  my  son  go  to  attend 
the  university  at  Halle  or  Goettingen.  I  flatly 
refused  to  go  to  Halle,  and  did  not  even  agree 


Karl  Goes  to  College  297 

to  Goettingen.     Upon  my  return  to  Lochau 
I  found  the  following  ministerial  writing : 


Kassel,  July  29,  1810. 
My  Pastor: 

I  reported  to  his  Majesty  the  King  about  the  extraor- 
dinary talents  and  progress  of  your  son,  as  also  about 
your  wish  to  devote  yourself  entirely  to  his  education. 
His  Majesty,  always  graciously  inclined  to  encourage 
talents,  has  granted  your  request  to  give  up  your  present 
situation  at  Michaelmas,  and  has  ordered  me  to  provide 
another  place  for  you  at  the  expiration  of  your  son's 
education. 

Considering  the  excellent  institutions  of  learning  in  the 
Kingdom,  His  Majesty  wishes  that  your  son's  education 
be  finished  within  the  realm,  and,  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
demnifying you  for  any  other  possible  offers,  grants  your 
son  for  three  years  from  this  coming  Michaelmas,  a  yearly 
sum  of  four  hundred  dollars,  with  which  to  go  to  Goet- 
tingen and  there,  under  the  guidance  of  the  excellent 
teachers  of  that  place,  to  finish  the  work  begun  by  you. 

It  is  a  real  pleasure  to  me  to  announce  this  favor  of 
our  Monarch  to  you,  and  I  shall  always  be  ready  to 
furnish  you  aid  and  protection  during  the  time  of  your 
son's  academic  studies. 

You  are  granted  a  two  months*  leave  of  absence,  until 
Michaelmas,  in  which  to  arrange  your  affairs.  I  have 
given  at  the  Magdeburg  Consistory  the  necessary  notice 
of  your  resignation. 

I  return  to  you  the  papers  which  you  have  sent  me, 
and  assure  you  of  my  high  respect. 

G.  A.   COMTE  DE  WOLFRADT. 


298        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

I  can  report  my  son's  progress  as  a  univer- 
sity student  in  a  few  words:  He  continued 
everything  which  he  had  begun  with  me  and 
attended  lectures  at  Goettingen,  in  company 
with  me.  In  the  first  semester  I  took  up  only 
two  for  him,  ancient  history  with  Heeren,  and 
natural  science  with  Mayer.  I  believed  that  in 
connection  with  the  latter  he  would  soon  see 
the  necessity  for  studying  mathematics,  as,  in 
spite  of  all  the  preparation  and  repetition, 
there  occurred  occasions  in  the  lectures  when, 
on  account  of  insufficient  mathematical  train- 
ing, he  was  not  able  to  understand  something. 
After  a  lecture  he  once  said  to  me,  "I  did  not 
understand  it, — I  must  study  mathematics!" 
I  provided  for  this  at  once.  The  excellent 
mathematician.  Professor  F.,  came  that  very 
evening  and  explained  to  him  the  difficult 
passage,  and  immediately  started  to  give  him 
a  lesson  in  pure  mathematics.  My  son  and  I 
will  all  our  lives  respectfully  and  gratefully 
remember  this  true  friend. 

It  is  well  known  that  all  the  professors  were 
very  much  satisfied  with  my  son's  industry 
and  progress.  I  will,  therefore,  quote  only  a 
few  of  their  testimonials,  although  I  have  the 
originals  of  them  all : 


Karl  Goes  to  College  299 

The  young  K.  Witte  has  this  winter  attended  my  lec- 
tures in  ancient  history  and  geography.  I  testify  that  he 
not  only  has  diligently  attended  them  in  company  with 
his  father,  but  that  I  have  also  observed  in  him  an  at- 
tention which  proceeded  from  his  interest  in  the  subject 
and  a  power  of  conception  which  is  remarkable  for  his 
age.  Would  that  these  much  promising  aptitudes  may 
be  developed  in  their  proper  proportions. 

A.  H.  L.  Heeren. 

It  gives  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  testify  to  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Karl  Witte  not  only  attended  my  lectures  of 
natural  science  with  unabated  zeal  and  industry,  but  that 
he  also  has  acquired  such  complete  information  in  all 
the  teachings  of  this  science,  as  far  as  I  have  covered  it 
in  these  lectures,  that,  after  several  examinations,  I  have 
become  fully  convinced  of  the  ability  which  this  hopeful 
youth  has  already  shown  in  so  many  other  trials  of  his 
skUl. 

J.  T.  Mayer. 

The  excellent  condition  of  his  health  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  he  did  not  fall  ill  that 
winter,  for,  instead  of  two  or  three  hours,  he 
had  frequently  to  pass  five  and  six  hours  in 
succession  at  his  desk.  Formerly  he  lived 
chiefly  in  the  open,  now  he  worked  in  the 
room.  After  six  months  of  travel  there  fol- 
lowed six  months  of  absolute  rest.  I  did,  in- 
deed, take  daily  walks  with  him,  but  the  win- 
ter was  unusually  rainy  and  stormy.     Often 


300       The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

we  had  to  wander  about  in  a  terrible  snow- 
storm, in  order  to  get  any  exercise  at  all.  On 
such  days  we  used  to  be  the  only  promenaders 
on  the  Rampart.  "If  I  can  bring  him  safely 
through  the  winter,"  I  would  say,  "I  shall 
have  no  further  fear  for  his  health."  Thank 
Heaven,  I  succeeded  in  this. 

As  soon  as  the  Easter  vacation  came,  we 
both  seized  the  wander-staff.  That  startled 
the  people,  for  they  expected  that  I  would  use 
the  intermission  in  order  to  review  the  lec- 
tures with  Karl  and  prepare  him  for  the  com- 
ing lectures,  but  especially  in  order  to  visit 
frequently  the  treasure  of  Goettingen,  its  li- 
brary. Our  friends  were  kind  enough  to 
recommend  that  to  me,  but  they  were  also 
sensible  enough  to  listen  to  my  counter-rea- 
sons. 

"If  it  were  my  purpose  to  make  an  exhibi- 
tion of  Karl,  I  would  stay  here.  But  I  do  not 
want  to  make  a  prodigy  of  him.  I  want  to 
take  care  of  his  body,  the  expansion  of  his 
ideas,  and  the  preservation  of  his  good  spirits. 
He  will  have  time  to  learn  a  lot." 

In  the  second  semester  Karl  attended  Schra- 
der's  lectures  in  botany  and  Thibaut's  in 
mathematics.    Here  is  the  latter's  testimonial : 


Karl  Goes  to  College  301 

Mr.  Karl  Witte  has  this  last  semester  taken  part  in 
my  lectures  in  pure  mathematics,  attending  them  with 
uninterrupted  and  exemplary  diligence.  Since  I  received 
him  among  my  students  not  without  anxiety,  lest  a  con- 
tinuous, abstract,  scientific  presentation  should  prove  in- 
compatible with  his  tender  age,  it  is  so  much  the  more 
pleasant  to  me  to  be  able  to  *y  that  his  lively  interest  in 
all  the  parts  of  the  sciences  presented,  even  the  most  diffi- 
cult, has  always  remained  the  same.  In  the  solution 
of  the  problems  which  were  propounded  in  special  hours 
for  exercise  he  has  yielded  to  no  student.  I  may  assert, 
in  conformity  with  the  strictest  truth,  that  he  has  al- 
ready given  evidence  of  an  excellent  aptitude  for  mathe- 
matics. 

B.  Fr.  Thibaut. 


The  collection  of  plants,  the  classification 
and  preservation  of  them,  gave  him  much  ex- 
ercise and  pleasure.  At  the  same  time  he 
drew,  learned  piano-playing  and  dancing,  and 
carried  on  mechanical  work.  He  continued 
his  ancient  and  modern  languages  with  me,  in 
the  philological  seminars  of  Heyne,  Mitcher- 
lich,  Wunderlich,  and  Dissen,  and  with  Dr. 
Seebode,  all  the  time  we  stayed  in  Goettingen. 
So  I  shall  not  mention  this  fact  again,  for 
everybody  knows  that  these  gentlemen  were 
very  much  satisfied  with  him. 

During  that  summer  King  Hieronymus 
came  to  Goettingen  and,  among  other  things. 


302         The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

visited  the  Botanical  Garden.  My  son  was 
there  with  other  students  of  botany.  Leist  no- 
ticed him  and  directed  the  king's  attention  to 
him.  The  king  wanted  to  speak  with  him. 
Morio  quickly  picked  him  out  of  the  crowd 
and  presented  him, — and  soon  afterward  me 
also, — to  both  of  the  royal  personages.  The 
king  conversed  with  us  graciously  for  a  long 
time,  encouraged  my  son  to  further  industry, 
and  assured  him,  with  this  condition,  of  his 
constant,  active  protection.  No  sooner  had  this 
happened,  than  the  first  ladies  and  gentlemen 
of  the  court  began  to  kiss  the  boy,  as  though 
he  had  become  another  person.  Two  generals 
led  him  between  them,  as  in  a  triumph,  until 
the  king  stepped  into  his  carriage.  Men  from 
his  entourage  encouraged  me  now  to  ask  for 
two  or  three  hundred  dollars  of  additional 
stipend,  which  would  certainly  not  be  refused. 
But  I  did  not  do  so,  because  I  preferred 
throughout  my  life  to  retrench  my  wants, 
rather  than  become  troublesome  by  requests 
of  money  or  offices. 

In  the  third  semester  Karl  took  applied 
mathematics  from  Thibaut  and  natural  his- 
tory from  Blumenbach,  and,  if  I  am  not  mis- 
taken, it  was  that  same  winter  that  Mr.  von 


Karl  Goes  to  College  303 

Seckendorf  gave  lectures  on  mimicry,  which 
we  also  attended. 

In  the  fourth  semester,  chemistry  from 
Stromeier  and,  with  Thibaut's  express  wish, 
mathematical  analysis.  Here  follows  the  testi- 
monial in  regard  to  this  science,  which  is  very 
difficult  for  a  boy  not  yet  twelve  years  old. 

Mr.  Karl  Witte  in  the  summer  semester  of  1812  has 
attended  my  lectures  on  analysis  and  higher  geometry. 
In  spite  of  the  considerable  difficulties  which  the  in- 
crease, both  in  volume  and  depth,  in  the  investigation 
of  these  branches  of  theoretical  mathematics  inevitably 
brings  with  it,  he  has  evinced  the  same  continuous  in- 
dustry, the  same  constant  attention  as  in  his  former  study 
of  the  elements.  Special  examinations,  based  on  these 
lectures,  have  afforded  him  additional  opportunity  to 
give  conclusive  proofs,  excluding  every  doubt  of  the  clear- 
ness, fluency,  and  thoroughness  of  the  information  ac- 
quired, as  also  of  his  ability  to  give  a  clever  exposition 
of  the  same. 

B.  Fr.  Thibaut. 

In  the  fifth,  Karl  attended  Mayer^s  lectures 
on  goniometric  instruments,  Stronmeier's  on 
reagents  and  the  chemical  apparatus,  Haus- 
mann's  on  mineralogical  terminology  and  sys- 
tematology,  and  Thibaut's  on  differential  and 
integral  calculus. 

During  this  winter  my  son  wrote  his  first 


304        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

little  work  on  higher  mathematics.  Thibaut 
had  chosen  the  problem  and  had  even  con- 
cealed the  name  of  the  resulting  curve  so  that 
Karl  could  not  find  any  information  about  it. 
Yet  the  little  work  was  everywhere  received 
favorably.  Many  persons  were  particularly 
happy  to  get  the  instrument,  invented  and 
drawn  by  my  son,  for  the  mechanical  draw- 
ing of  the  curve,  because  it  proved  most  clearly 
his  quickness  of  perception,  his  knowledge  of 
mechanics,  and  his  ability  in  representation. 

In  the  sixth  semester  my  son  took  practical 
geometry  from  Thibaut,  theory  of  light  and 
colors  from  Maier.  French  literature  from 
Villers,  and  mineralogy  from  Hausmann.  In 
the  seventh  semester  he  took  political  history 
from  Heeren  and  reviewed  ancient  history 
with  him. 

During  the  previous  summer  Thibaut  had 
declared  to  me  that  my  son  could  learn  noth- 
ing more  of  him.  I  had  formerly  wished  that 
Karl  might  repeat  some  of  his  mathematical 
studies,  but  Thibaut  insisted  that  he  knew 
from  the  frequent  tests  that  Karl  had  com- 
pletely mastered  his  mathematics.  I  had  also 
been  opposed  to  his  having  studied  the  mathe- 
matical branches,  especially  the  higher  ones, 


Karl  Goes  to  College  305 

in  quick  succession.  I  made  strong  remon- 
strances when  my  son  in  his  eleventh  year 
began  analytics  and  higher  geometry,  and 
when  he  had  to  take  up  differential  and  in- 
tegral calculus  in  his  twelfth  year.  But 
Thibaut  insisted  that  he  possessed  the  neces- 
sary powers  and  sufficient  desire  for  them, 
and  "what  a  man  likes  to  do,  that  is  not  dif- 
ficult for  him."  I  allowed  him  to  do  both 
with  great  anxiety,  but  with  the  two  provisos 
(i)  that  he  could  stay  away,  if  he  found  the 
subject  too  difficult,  and  (2)  that  he  should 
be  allowed  to  take  a  subject  over,  if  he  had 
not  understood  it  perfectly.  Thibaut  agreed 
to  this,  with  the  jocular  remark  that  there 
would  be  no  need  for  it,  in  which  he  was  right. 
More  important  to  me  was  his  paternal 
advice  to  ask  Gaus  for  private  lectures  for  my 
son,  which  Gaus  was  to  determine.  Gaus 
knew  Karl,  but,  at  my  request,  he  examined 
him  again  very  carefully,  after  which  he  de- 
clared, "He  cannot  learn  much  more  from 
lectures,  not  even  from  private  lectures.  But 
I  will  give  him  a  series  of  Latin,  Italian,  and 
French  authors,  who  have  treated  the  higher 
branches  of  mathematics  in  the  most  profound 
manner.    He  can  read  them  for  himself  1"    I 


3o6        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

trembled,  for  Karl  was  only  thirteen  years  old. 
"But,  Professor,"  I  said,  "there  is  much  which 
he  will  not  understand !"  "Much?  No.  Pos- 
sibly a  little,  in  which  case  I  can  help  him. 
But  he  will  not  have  occasion  to  ask  often." 

Gaus,  too,  was  right.  My  son  understood 
nearly  everything.  Cagnoli  he  grasped  com- 
pletely; the  few  passages,  I  believe  there  were 
three  of  them,  in  Poisson's  "Higher  Me- 
chanics," which  he  found  obscure  Gaus  found 
important  enough  to  give  him  a  written  ex- 
planation of  them.  Even  this  great  scholar 
has  taken  sympathetic  interest  in  my  son. 

Although  *  Karl  no  longer  studied  under 
Thibaut,  the  latter  did  not  lose  sight  of  him. 
"Let  him  do  what  he  pleases,"  he  once  said 
to  me,  "I  am  curious  to  see  what  he  will  hit 
upon."  I  then  revealed  to  him  that  my  son 
was  working  on  a  plane  trigonometry,  but  this 
was  to  be  kept  secret,  because  he  was  not  yet 
sure  whether  time  and  circumstances  would 
allow  him  to  finish  the  work.  Thibaut  was 
very  glad  to  hear  this,  saying,  "Let  him  do 
what  he  pleases!"  When  the  work  was  fin- 
ished, he  read  it  and  approved  the  whole,  but 
censured  a  few  things,  which  Karl  was  grate- 
fully anxious  to  correct.  My  son  has,  perhaps, 


Karl  Goes  to  College  307 

never  before  worked  with  such  joy,  power, 
and  endurance,  as  upon  this  self-imposed  task. 

The  work  appeared  in  18 15,  when  we  were 
living  at  Heidelberg.  To  my  astonishment 
I  soon  found  a  review  of  it  by  Thibaut,  in 
which  he  evinced  a  totally  different  spirit 
than  before.  Instead  of  love  there  was  hatred, 
instead  of  friendly  censure  harsh  criticism,  in- 
stead of  a  humane  consideration  for  the 
author's  youth  (thirteen  and  a  half  years, 
which  Thibaut  purposely  stated  as  "about  six- 
teen") bitter,  I  may  say,  biting  condemnation. 
Instead  of  representation  of  its  clear  mean- 
ing— malicious  perversion  of  it.  Thibaut  has 
harmed  us  much  by  his  onslaught,  but  we  shall 
not  forget  his  former  love. 

I  received  from  His  Majesty  a  continuation 
of  the  pension  for  four  more  years,  with  the 
gracious  permission  to  use  it  wherever  I  found 
it  expedient  to  be  for  the  sake  of  my  son.  In 
order  to  obtain  the  arrears  of  the  last  seven 
months,  we  had  to  go  to  Brunswick,  where  we 
were  introduced  to  the  duke,  although  he  was 
on  the  point  of  leaving.  He  spoke  graciously 
to  us  for  a  long  time.  He  tried  to  impress 
upon  my  son  the  desirability  of  going  to 
England,  where  he  would  recommend  him 


3o8        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

urgently  to  his  relatives,  in  order  that  by  their 
aid  he  might  learn  everything  worth  learning. 
The  part  of  the  money  which  was  due  in 
Brunswick  was  paid  out  to  me  that  very  day. 

They  were  not  less  kind  to  me  at  Hanover, 
but,  justly,  wanted  to  have  a  proof  of  my  son's 
knowledge.  He  had  lately  lectured  to  the 
seniors  at  Salzwedel  on  mathematics,  and  his 
lectures  had  there  been  received  with  great 
approval  by  the  most  excellent  men.  He  of- 
fered to  do  something  like  it  here,  and  merely 
asked  for  the  themes.  These  were  given  to 
him  from  (i)  algebra,  (2)  geometry,  (3) 
analytics,  (4)  analytical  trigonometry,  (5) 
differential  calculus,  (6)  integral  calculus. 
He  gave  his  lecture  on  the  third  of  May,  18 14, 
in  the  great  auditorium  of  the  Gymnasium. 

The  greatest  scholars  of  the  city  were  pres- 
ent. They  knew  that  my  son  had  received  the 
themes  on  the  previous  day  and  that  he  had 
been  out  in  society  until  late  at  night.  He 
spoke  with  perfect  ease,  and  yet  so  clearly  and 
in  such  excellent  German  that  several  persons 
present  walked  back  of  the  desk,  because  it 
seemed  impossible  to  them  that  he  should  be 
able  to  speak  so  well  without  reading  it  off  a 
paper.    They  smiled  when  they  found  they 


Karl  Goes  to  College  309 

were  mistaken.  But  my  son,  noticing  their 
suspicion,  left  the  desk  and  continued  his  lec- 
ture at  the  board,  merely  looking  at  his  notes, 
in  order  to  read  off  the  themes.  The  applause 
was  universal  and  enthusiastic.  The  Govern- 
ment sympathetically  offered  us  a  little  more 
than  was  our  due.  The  Duke  of  Cambridge 
assured  us  personally  of  his  favor  and  recom- 
mendation if  my  son  should  go  to  England. 
Hessen,  too,  paid  everything  which  I  justly 
demanded ;  nay,  the  elector,  like  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  asked  me  to  state  how  much  I 
was  to  get.  We  were  several  times  invited  to 
court,  where  we  were  showered  with  kind- 
nesses. 

In  his  eighth  semester  my  son  continued 
higher  mathematics,  philology,  and  so  forth, 
and  took  logic  from  Schulze  and  analytical 
chemistry  from  Stromeier.  Here  is  Stro- 
meier's  testimonial : 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  certify  to  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Karl  Witte  this  summer  semester  not  only  attended  my 
lectures  on  analytical  chemistry  and  the  practical  exer- 
cises in  the  laboratory  connected  with  these  lectures  with 
the  same  praiseworthy  industry  and  zeal  as  were  shown 
by  him  previously  in  my  lectures  on  theoretical  chemistry, 
but  has  also  given  me  repeated  proofs  of  his  excellent 
knowledge  of  chemistry  by  the  good  execution  of  the 


3IO        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

chemical  operations  and  analyses  entrusted  to  him  in  the 
lectures,  as  well  as  by  the  elaboration  of  chemical  sub- 
jects given  him  for  home  investigation. 

Dr.  Fr.  Stromeier. 

During  this  semester  we  talked  together  re- 
garding what  he  was  to  study  in  the  future. 
If  it  had  been  my  intention  to  make  him  fa- 
mous in  a  brief  time,  I  would  have  allowed 
him  to  continue  to  work  in  mathematical 
physics,  chemistry,  natural  history,  and  miner- 
alogy, for  in  all  these  sciences  he  was  equally 
far  advanced.  But  I  was  afraid  that  the  deep 
investigations  connected  with  these  might  not 
be  good  for  his  tender  years.  Moreover,  if  he 
proceeded  on  the  path  on  which  he  had  begun, 
he  would  have  to  become  a  professor,  and 
that  was  not  in  conformity  with  my  wish.  So 
I  decided  that  he  should  cultivate  other  fields 
of  his  mind,  which  heretofore  had  been  lying 
fallow,  and  that  later,  in  his  eighteenth  year, 
he  should  choose  his  vocation  for  himself.  Ac- 
cordingly I  proposed  diplomatics  to  him, 
where  he  would  have  to  begin  with  law.  His 
former  studies  had  prepared  him  excellently 
for  diplomatics,  hence  everybody  agreed  with 
me  as  to  this  plan.    Only  Thibaut,  who  for- 


Karl  Goes  to  College  311 

merly  had  urged  me  on  to  this  move,  now  was 
sorry  that  his  science  was  going  to  lose  my 
son.  "He  can  return  to  it  later,"  I  replied, 
"for  he  is  still  very  young.  If  he  is  dissatisfied 
with  law,  he  will  certainly  return  to  it." 

During  a  journey  to  Wetzlar  several  mem- 
bers of  the  philosophical  faculty  at  Giessen 
had  a  long  and  thorough  conversation  with 
my  son.  Then  we  were  invited  to  dinner  by 
the  then  Dean,  the  well-known  Professor 
Schaumann,  and  here  we  found  a  select  com- 
pany. Suddenly  all  raised  their  glasses,  drank 
my  son's  health,  calling  him  "doctor  noster," 
and  the  Dean,  with  a  hearty  embrace,  handed 
him  the  following  paper  signed  by  himself. 
All  persons  present  wept  tears  of  joy. 

"I.  H.  Fr.  Carolo  Witte,  Doctori  Nostro! 

"My  beloved  young  friend! 

"Like  all  the  public,  I  have  long  known  of 
you.  But  it  is  only  in  these  happy  days  that  I 
have  learned  objectively  how  able  you  are, 
what  you  have  become  already.  I  have 
learned  it  with  sincere  joy.  God  has  blessed 
the  rare  efforts  of  your  worthy  father.  He  is 
a  father  who  rejoices  in  his  son  I 

"My  esteemed  colleagues  and  I  share  this 


312        The  Education  of  Karl  Witte 

paternal  joy.  We  wish  publicly  to  honor  you, 
my  friend,  and  your  father  through  you. 

"Hence  I  give  you  the  official  notice  that 
the  philosophical  faculty  yesterday  voted 
unanimously  to  bestow  the  degree  of  doctor  of 
philosophy  upon  you,  and  to  send  you  the 
diploma  as  soon  as  it  is  printed. 

"It  gives  me  rare  pleasure  to  be  the  first  to 
call  to  you,  'Salve,  doctor  noster!  Salve,  salve, 
doctor  carissimel' " 

Here  are  the  words  of  the  diploma: 
"To  the  youth,  who  is  already  a  man  by 
education,  of  amiable  modesty, — in  order  at 
the  same  time  to  honor  with  the  son  the  father, 
to  whom  the  son  owes  everything,  the  degree 
and  rights  of  doctor  of  philosophy,  and  so 
forth,  to  the  honor  of  our  university,  etc., 
April  lo,  1814." 

In  Marburgj  Ullmann  the  elder  and  his  col- 
leagues were  very  happy  at  the  honor  con- 
ferred on  Karl.  Ullmann  assured  me  that  if  it 
had  not  happened  at  Giessen,  the  University 
of  Marburg  would  have  given  him  the  same 
degree. 


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